
Class -J:*'n^_2JiAG 
Book 'isi^L^ 



' 



I 
ESSAYS, 

SfORAL, ECONOMICAL 5 AND 
POI.ITICAI.. 



FRA-NCIS BACON, 

,)AR0k OF VEHULAM, VISCOUNT ST. ALBAN, AKU 
LORD HIGH CHANGELLOK OF ENGLAUD. 



BOSTON: 

PUPUSHED BY T, BEDLINGTONj 
N<x 31 J Washinifton Sireat. 









Weat. Eos. mat, Soc. 



CONTENTS, 



Preiutory Epktie ^^ 

Of Truth... y/.v.'.'.y.'.'.y'r 

Death !...'.!!!!.]!.' 10 

Unity in Religion .*.*.*.'.'.'.'.' * .' * ,,,, '12 

Revenge V/.'.'.'.'.'.""m 

Adversity. .*.'.'! ,° .*.*.'.* .' 9fi 

Simulation and Dissimulation ......./.. ^ 

Parents and Children ['/' ' 9^ 

Marriage and Single Life ....'.'.*.* ' 'gg 

f'^'^y !;.*.';;:;;3o 

i-iove ^ 

Great Place '.'.'.'.'.'.'/.'.'.,'.'...[ '4Q 

Boldness !.*!!!!.*!!!!! 44 

Goodness, and Goodness of Nature .* '. '. '. .* .* .* .' .* .* AS 

A King, ' * " Vj) 

Nobility '.'.V. ^"9 

Seditions and Troubles **.*!.*.'!.'.*!.*.*.'!' 55 

Atheism '.'.','.', oa 

Superstition no 

Travel .'.*.' .*.*.'.*.** ' rf) 

Empire '.'.'.','.','.'.'. 'to 

Counsel ^o 

»^'-y.^ .■.•.v;.::;;;:;:;:;:;:;;;^s 

Cunmng ^^ g=. 

Wisdom for a Man's Self! .7. ...... ....l cj-. 

Innovations ^ 

Despatch '.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.','.'. eg 

Seeming "W^se 03 

Friendship .'.'.*.'.*.' {nr. 

Expense iiq 

The true Greatness of Kiagdoals'i^d'Estetes.* .'ill 
Begmien of H«*lth. . , . .! [{^ 



4 CONTENTS. 

Page 

Of Suspicion 126 

Discourse 128 

Plantations 131 

Riches 135 

Pr tphecies 139 

Ambition 143 

Masques and Triumphs 146 

Nature in Men • • . 148 

Custom and Education 150 

Fortune 153 

Usury 155 

Youth and Age 160 

Baanty 1G2 

Deforniity 164 

Building 166 

Gardens 171 

Negotiating • 180, 

FclloAvers and Friends 182 

Suitors 186 

Studies 18T 

Faction 1^ 

Ceremonies and Respects 191 

Praise 19^ 

Vainglory "ISQ 

Honour and Reputation 198 

Judicature 201 

AnvQT 206 

Vicissitude of Things »209 

A Fragment of an Essay of Fame 216 



PREFATORY EPISTLE. 



TO MR. ANTHONY BACOTC, . 

HIS DSAR BROTHEB. 

LoTiKG and beloved brother, I do now 
like some that have an orchard ill neigh» 
boured, that gather their fruit before it is 
ripe, to prevent stealing. These fragments 
of my conceits were going to print : to 
labour the stay of them had been troubls- 
some, and subject to interpretation ; to let 
them pass had been to adventure the v^rong 
they might receive by untrue copies, or 
by some garnishment which it might please 
any that should set them f®rth to bestow 
upon them : therefore I held it best dis- 
cretioi'_ to publish them myself, as they 
passed long ago from my pen, without any- 
farther disgrace than the weakness of the, 
author; and as I did ever hold, there might 
be as great a vanity in retiring and with- 
drawing men's conceits (except they be 
of some nature) from the world as in ob- 
truding them; so in these particulars I 
have played myself the inquieitor, aiid fiad 



t> PREFATORY E?ISTL« 

notbing to my understanding in them 
contrary or infectious to the state of reli- 
gion or manners, but rather, as I suppose, 
msdicinable : only , l dislike now to put 
them out, because they will be like the 
late new halfpence, which though the sil- 
ver vv^ere good, yet the pieces were small ; 
but since they would not stay with their 
master, but would needs travel abroad, I 
have preferred them to you, that are next 
myself; dedicating them, such as they are, 
to our love ; in the depth whereof, f assure 
you, I sometimes wish your infirmities 
translated upon to j self, that her majesty 
might have the service of so active and 
able a mind ; and I might be with excuse 
confined to these contemplations and stU' 
dies, for which I am fittest ; so commend 
I you to the preservation of the Divine 
Majesty. 

Your entire loving brother, 

FRAN. BACON- 

Prom my Chamber at Oray*s /»», 
</«i 36dA of January f 15^, 



ESSAYS, 

CIVIL AND MORAL. 

OF TRUTH. 

What is truth? said jesting Pilate, and 
would not stay for an answer. Certainly there 
be that delight in giddiness, and count it a 
bondage to fix a belief; aiFecting free will in 
thinking, as well as in acting : and though the 
sects of philosophers of that kind be gone, yet 
there remain certain discoursing wits which 
are of the same veins, though there be not so 
^uch blood in them as was in those of the 
ancients. But it is not only the difficulty and 
labour which men take in finding out of truth ; 
nor again, that, when it is found, it imposeth 
upon men's thoughts, that doth bring lies in 
favour ; but a natural, though corrupt love of 
the lie itself. One of the later schools of the 
Grecians examineth the matter, and is at a 
stand to think what should be in it, that men 
should love lies, where neither they make for 
pleasure, as with poets ; nor for advantage, as 
with the merchant; but for the lie's sake. 
But I cannot tell : this same truth is a naked 
and open daylight, that doth not show the 
jnasques, and mummeries, and triumphs of the 



=gjgsssmamamm^ 



©F TRUTM. 



world, half so stately and daintily as candle* 
lights. Truth may perhaps come to the price 
of a pearl, that showeth best by day ; but it 
will not rise to the price of a diamond or car- 
buncle, that showeth best in varied lights. 
A mixture of a lie doth ever add pleasure. 
Doth any man doubt, that if there were taken 
out of men's minds vain opinions, flattering 
hopes, false valuations, imaginations as one 
would, and the like, but it would leave the 
minds of a number of men poor shrunken 
things, full of melancholy and indisposition, 
and unpleasing to themselves ? One of the 
fathers, in great severity, called poesy "vinum 
dsemonum," because it filleth the imagination, 
and yet it is but with the shadow of a lie. 
But it is not the lie that passeth through the 
mind, but the lie that sinketh in and settleth 
in it, that doth the hurt, such as we spake of 
before. But howsoever these things are thus 
in men's depraved judgments and affections, 
yet truth, which only doth judge itself, teach- 
eth that the inquiry of truth, v/hich is the 
love-making or wooing of it; the knowledge 
of truth, which is the presence of it ; and the 
belief of truth, which is the enjoying of it ; 
is the sovereign good of human nature. The 
first creature of God, in the works of the 
days, was the light of the sense ; the last waa 
the light of reason ; and his sabbath work, 
ever since, is the illumination of his Spirit. 
First he breathed light upon the face of the 
jnatter, or chaos ; then he breatheth Kght into 



or TRt'TH. 



the face of man ; and still lie breathetli and 
inspireth light into the face of his chosen. 
The poet that beautified the sect, that wa& 
otherwise inferior to the rest, saith yet excel- 
lently well, " It is a pleasure to stand upon 
the shore, and to see ships tossed upon the sea : 
a pleasure to stand in the window of a castle, 
and to see a battle, and the adventures thereof 
below : but no pleasure is comparable to the 
standing upon the vantage ground of truth, (a 
hill not to be commanded, and where the air 
is always clear and serene,) and to see the 
errors, and wanderings, and mists, and tem- 
pests in the vale below :" so always that this 
prospect be with pity, and not with swelling 
or pride. Certainly it is heaven upon earth to 
hav« a man's mind move in charity, rest in 
providence, and turn upon the poles of truth. 

To pass from theological and philosophical 
ttuth to the truth of civil business, it will be 
acknowledged, even by those that practise it 
not, that clear and round dealing is the honour 
of man's nature, and that mixture of false- 
hood is like alloy in coin of gold and silver, 
which may make the metal work the better, 
but it embaseth it : for these winding and 
crooked courses are the goings of the serpent, 
which goeth basely upon the belly, and not 
npon the feet. There is no vice that doth so 
cover a man with shame as to be found false 
and perfidious : and therefore Montaigne saith 
prettily, when he inquired the reason why the 
iBf^rd of the He should be such » disgrace, an<i 



10 OF DEATH. 

such an odious charge, "If it be well weigh- 
ed, to say tliat a man lieth, is as much as to 
say that he is brave towards God, and a cow- 
ard towards men : for a lie faces God, and 
shrinks from man." Surely the wickedness 
of falsehood and breach of faith cannot possi- 
bly be so highly expressed as in that it shall 
be the last peal to call the judgments of God 
upon the generations of men : it being fore- 
told that w^hen " Christ cometh," he shall not 
*' find faith upon earth." 



OF DEATH. 



Men fear death as children fear to go into 
the dark ; and as that natural fear in children 
IS increased with tales, so is the other. Cer- 
tainly, the contemplation of death, as the 
wages of sin and passage to another world, is 
holy and religious; but the fear of it, as a tri- 
bute due unto nature, is weak. Yet in reli- 
gious meditations there is sometim.es mixture 
of vanity and of superstition. You shall read"ia 
some of the friars' books of mortification, that 
a man should think with himself what the 
pain is, if be have but his finger's end pressed, 
or tortured, and thereby imagine what the 
pains of death are wben the whole body is 
corrupted and dissolved; when many times 
death passeth with less pain than the torture 
of a limb ; for the most vital parts are not the 
quickest of sense : and by him that spake only 



OF DEATH. 11 

RS a philosopher and natural man, it was well 
said, " Pompa mortis magis terret qnam mors 
ipsa." Groans, and convulsions, and a dis-, 
coloured face, and friends weeping, and blacks 
and obsequies, and the like, show death teni- 
ble. It is worthy the observing, that there is 
no passion in the mind of man so weak, but it 
mates and masters the fear of death ; and, there- 
fore, death is no such terrible enemy when a 
man hath so many attendants about him that 
can win the combat of him. Revenge triumph? 
over death ; love slights it ; honour aspiretfe 
to it; grief flieth to it; fear preoccupieth it, 
nay, we read, after Otho the emperor had slain 
himself, pity (which is the tenderest of affec- 
tions) provoked many to die out of mere 
compassion to their sovereign, and as the tru- 
est" sort of followers. Nay, Seneca add? 
niceness and satiety : " Cogita quamdiu eadem 
feceris ; mori velle, non tantum fortis, aut 
miser, sed etiam fastidiosus potest." A man 
would die, though he v/ere neither valiant noi 
miserable, only upon a vv'eariness to do the 
s^ame thing so oft over and over. It is no less 
worthy to obsen^e, how little alteration in good 
spirits the approaches of death make ; for they 
appear to be the same men till the last instant. 
Au^stus CiEsar died in a compliment : " Livia, 
conjugii nostri memor, vive et vale :" Tibe- 
rius in -dissimulation, as Tacitus saith of him, 
"Jam Tiberium vires et corpus, non dissimu- 
latio, deserebant :" Vespasian in a jest, sitting 
^ipcn the stool, *- Ut puto Deus fio :" Galba 



12 OF VNITY IN RELIGION. 

with a sentence, "Feri, si ex re sit populi 
Romani," holding forth his neck: Septimus 
Sevenis in despatch, "Adeste, si quid mihi 
restat agendum," and the like. Certainly the 
Stoics bestowed too much cost upon death, and 
by their great preparations made it appear 
more fearful. Better, saith he, "qui finem 
vitae extremum inter munera, ponat naturae." 
It is as natural to die as to be born ; and to a 
little infant, perhaps, the one is as painful as 
the other. He that dies in an earnest pursuit 
is like one that is wounded in hot blood ; who, 
for the time, scarce feels the hurt ; and there- 
fore a mind fixed and bent upon somewhat 
that is good, doth avert the dolours of death : 
but, above all, believe it, the sweetest canticle 
is, " Nunc dimittis," when a man hath ob- 
tained worthy ends and expectations. Death 
hath this also, that it openeth the gate to good 
fame, and extingaisheth envy : " Extinctusj 
amabitur idem." 



OF UNiry IN RELIGION. 

Melision being the chief bond cf hnman 
society, it is a happy thing when itself is well 
contained within the true bond of unity. The 
quarrels and divisions about religion were 
evils unknown to the heathen. Th« reason 
was, because the religion of the heatisen am- 
m^d rather in rites tmi es7€moaies thaa-^ii 



OF UNITi' IN llELIGIOX. 13 

kind of faith theirs was, when the chief doc- 
tors and fathers of their church were the 
poets. But the tme God hath this attribute, 
that he is a jealous God ; and therefore his 
worship and religion will endure no mixture 
aior partner. We shall therefore speak a few 
words concerning the unity of the church; 
what are the fruits thereof; what the bonds ; 
and what the means. 

The fruits of unity (next unto the well 
pleasing of God, which is all in all) are two ; 
the one towards those that are without the 
church, the otlier towards those that are 
within. For the former, it is certain, that 
heresies and schisms are of all others the 
greatest scandals ; yea, more than corruption 
of manners ; for a,s in the natural body a 
wound or solution of continuity is worse than 
a corrupt humour, so in the spiritual : so that 
nothing doth so much keep men out of the 
church, and drive men out of the church, as 
breach of unity ; and, therefore, whensoever it 
Cometh to that pass that one saith, " ecce in de- 
serto," another saith, " ecce in penetralibus ;" 
that is, when some men seek Christ in the con- 
venticles of heretics, and others in an outward 
face of a church, that voice had need continu- 
ally to sound in men's ears, " nolite exire," — 
^^ go not out." The doctor of the Gentiles 
.^the propriety of whose Yocation drew him to 
have a special care of those without) sailh, 
*' If an heathen come in, and hear you speak 
with several tongues, will he not sav that you 
2 



14 or UNITY IN r»r.LiGiox. 

arc mad?" and, certainly, it is little better: 
when atheists and profane persons do hear of 
so many discordant and contrary opinions in 
religion, it doth avert them from the church, 
and maketh them " to sit down in the chair of 
the scorners." It is but a light thing to be 
vouched in so serious a matter, but yet it ex- 
presseth v/ell the deformity. There is a mas- 
ter of scoffing, that, in his catalogue of books 
of a feigned library, sets down this title of a 
book, "The Morris-Dance of Heretics :" for, 
indeed, every sect of them hath a diverse pos- 
ture, or cringe, by themselves, which cannot 
but mpve derision in worldlings and depraved 
politics, who are apt to contemn holy things. 

As for the fruit towards those that are 
within, it is peace v/hich containeth infinite 
blessings ; it establlsbcth faith ; it kindleth 
charity ; the outward peace of the church dis- 
lilieth into peace of conscience, and it turneth 
the labours of writing and reading contro- 
versies into treatises of mortification and 
devotion. 

Concerning the bonds of unity, the true 
placing of them importeth exceedingly. There 
appear to be two extremes : for to certain zea- 
lots all speech of pacification is odious^ "Is 
it peace, Jehu ?" — " Yv^hat hast thou to do 
%viih peace? turn thee behind me." Peace is 
not the matter, but following and party. Con- 
trariwise, certain Laodiceans and lukewarm 
persons think they may accommodate points of 
jeligion by middle \\ays, and taking part of 



OF UXtTY IN RELIGIOX. 15 

botlij and witty recorxcilemcnis, as if they 
Would make Hn arbitrcment between God and 
man. Both these extremes are to be aToided; 
which will be done if the league of Christians, 
penned by our Savio^ir himself, were in 
the two cross clauses thereof soundly and 
plainly expounded : " He that is not with us 
is against us ;" and again, " He that is not 
against us is with us ;" that is, if the points 
fundamental, and of substance in religion, 
were truly discerned and distinguished from 
points not merely of faith, but of opinion, or- 
der, or good intention. This is a thing may 
seem to many a matter trivial, and done al- 
ready; but if it were done less partially, it 
would be embraced more generally. 

Of this I may give only this advice, accord- 
ing to my small model. Men ought to take 
heed of rending God's church by two kinds of 
controversies ; the one is, when the matter of 
the point controverted is too small and light, 
not worth the heat and strife about it, kindled 
only by contradiction ; for, as it is noted by one 
of the fathers, Christ's coat indeed had no 
seam, but the church's vesture was of divers 
colours ; whereupon he saith, " in veste vari- 
ctas sit, scissura non sit," they be two things, 
unity and uniformity : the other is, when the 
matter of the point controverted is great, but it 
is driven to an overgreat subtilty and obscurity, 
^RO that it becometh a thing rather ingenious 
than substantial. A man that is of judgment 
and understanding shall som.etimes hear ig;no- 



16 OF UNITY IN RELIGION. 

rant men differ, and know well within him- 
self, that those which so differ mean one 
thing, and yet they themselves would never 
agree : and if it come so to pass in that distance 
of judgment, which is between man and man, 
shall we not think that God above, that knows 
the heart, doth not discern that frail men, in 
some of their contradictions, intend the same 
thing, and accepteth of both ? The nature of 
such controversies is excellently expressed by 
St. Paul, in the warning and precept that he 
giveth concerning the same, " devita profanas 
vocum novitates, et oppositiones falsi nominis 
scienti^." Men create oppositions which are 
not, and put them into new terms so fixed, as 
whereas the meaning ought to govern the 
term, the term in effect governeth the mean- 
ing. There be also two false peaces or unities : 
the one, when the peace is grounded but upon 
an implicit ignorance ; for all colours will 
agree in the dark : the other, when it is 
pieced up upon a direct admission of contraries 
in fundamental points ; for truth and falsehood, 
in such things, are like the iron and clay in 
the toes of Nebuchadnezzar's image ; they 
may cleave^ but they will not incorporate. 

Concerning the means of procuring unity^ 
men must beware, that, in the procuring or 
muniting of religious unity, they do not dis- 
solve and deface the lav/s of charity and of 
human society. There be two swords amongst 
Christians, the spiritual and temporal ; and 
both have their due office and place in the 



or UXirV IN RELIGION. 17 

maintenance of religion : but we may no: take 
up the third sword, which is Mahomet's 
sword, or like unto it : that is, to propagate 
rehgion by wars, or by sanguinary persecu- 
tions to force consciences; except it be in 
cases of overt scandal, blasphemy, or intermix- 
ture of practice against the state ; much less 
to nourish seditions ; to authorize conspiracies 
and rebellions ; to put the sword into the 
people's hands, and the like, tending to 
the subversion of all government, which is the 
ordinance of God : for this is but to dash the 
first table against the second; and so to consi- 
der men as Christians, as we forget that they 
are men. Lucretius the poet, when he beheld 
the act of Agamemnon, that could endure the 
sacrificing of his own daughter, exclaimed : ' 

" Tantum re!igio potuit suadere malorum." 

What would he have said, if he had known of 
the massacre in France, or the powder treason 
of England ? He would have been seven 
times more epicure and atheist than he w^as : 
for as. the temporal sword is to be drawn with 
great circumspection in cases of religion, so it 
is a thing monstrous to put into the hands of 
the common people • let that be h:^ ^ito the 
anabaptists, and oLher furies. It w|§ great 
blasphemy, when the devii s?jd, " I will as- 
cend, and be like the Highest ;" but it is greater 
blasphemy to personate God, and bring him in 
saying, " I will descend, and be like the prince • 
of darkness :" and what is it better, to make 



18 OF llEVENGli. 

the cause of religion to descend to the cruel 
and execrable actions of murdering princes, 
butchery of people, and subversion of states 
and governments ? Surely this is to bring 
down the Holy Ghost, instead of the likeness 
of a dove, in the shape of a vulture or raven ; 
and to set out of the bark of a Christian church 
a flag of a bark of pirates and assassins : 
therefore it is most necessary, that the church 
by doctrine and decree, princes by their sv/ord, 
and all learnings, both Christain and moral, as- 
hy their mercury rod to damn, and send to hell 
for ever, those facts and opinions tending to 
the support of the same, as hath been already 
in good part done. Surely in councils con- 
cerning religion, that counsel of the apostle 
would be prefixed, " Ira hominis non implet 
justitiam Dei :" and it was a notable observa- 
tion of a wise father, and no less ingenuously 
confessed, that those which held and persuaded 
pressure of consciences were commonly inter- 
ested therein themselves for their own ends. 



OF REVENGE. 



Revejnge is a kind of wild justice, which 
the mQEC . man's nature runs to, the more 
ought law to weed it out : for as for the first 
wrong, it doth but ofiend the law, but the re- 
venge of that wrong putteth the law out of of- 
fice. Certainly, in taking revenge, a man is 
but even with his enemy; but in passmg it 



Oi' hevenge. 19 

over lie is superior ; for it is a prince's part 
to pardon : and Solomon, I am sure, saith, 
" It is the glory of a man to pass by an of- 
fence." That which is passed is gone and 
irrecoverable, and vdse men have enough to do 
with things present and to come ; therefore 
they do but triiie with themselves that labour 
in past matters. There is no man doth a 
wrong for the wrong's salie, but thereby to 
purchase himself profit, or pleasure,* or honour, 
or the like ; therefore why should I be angry 
with a man for loving himself better than me ? 
And if any man should do wrong, merely out 
of ill nature, why, yet it is but like the thorn 
or brier, which prick and scratch, because they 
can do no other. The most tolerable sort of 
revenge is for those wrongs which there is no 
law to remedy : but then, let a man take heed 
the revenge be such as there is no law to pun- 
ish, else a man's enemy is still beforehand, and 
it is two for one. Some, when they take re- 
venge, are desirous the party should know^ 
when it cometh : this is the more generous ; 
for the delight seemeth to be not so much in do- 
ing the hurt as in m.aking the party repent ; but 
base and crafty cov^-^ards are like the arro^v 
that flieth in the dark. Cosmus, Duke of 
Florence, had a desperate saying against per- 
fidious or neglecting friends, as if those wrongs 
were unpardonable. ^' You shall read," saith 
he, " that we are commanded to forgive our 
enemies, but you never read that Vv^e are com- 
manded to forgive our friends." But yet the 



20 «r ADVERSITY. 

spirit of Job was in a better tune : " Shall 
we," saith he, " take good at God's hands, 
and not be content to take evil also ?" and so 
of friends in a proportion. This is certain, that 
a man that studieth revenge keeps his own 
Avounds green, which otherwise would heal, 
and do well. Public revenges are for the most 
part fortunate ; as that for the death of Csesar ; 
. for the de^th of Fertinax ; for the death of 
Henry the Third of France ; and many more. 
But in private revenges it is not so ; nay, rath- 
er vindicative persons live the life of witches ; 
vvho, as they are mischievous, so end they 
imfortunate. 



OF ADVERSITY. 

It was a high speech of Seneca, (after the 
manner of the Stoics,) that the good things 
which belong to prosperity are to be wished, 
but the good things that belong to adversity 
are to be admired : " Bona rerum secundarum 
optabilia, adversarum mirabilia." Certainly, 
if miracles be the command over nature, they 
appear most in adversity. It is yet a higher 
speech of his than the other, (much too high 
for a heathen,) " It is true greatness to have 
in one the frailty of a man, and the security of 
a God :" — " Vere magnum habere fragilitatem 
hominis, securitatem Dei." This would have 
done better in poesy where transcendencies 



OP ADVERSITY. 21 

are more allowed ; and the poets, indeed, have 
been busy with it ; for it is in effect the thing 
which is figured in that strange fiction of the 
ancient poets, Vvhicli seemeth not to be with- 
out mystery ; nay, and to have some approach 
to the state of a Cliristian, " that Hercules, 
when he went to unbind Prometheus, (by whom 
human nature is represented,) sailed the length 
of the great ocean in an earthen pot or pitcher, 
lively describing Christian resolution, that 
saileth in the frail bark of the flesh through 
the waves of the world." But, to speak in a 
mean, the virtue of prosperity is temperance, 
the virtue of adversity is fortitude, which in 
morals is the more heroical virtue. Prosperity 
is the blessing of the Old Testament, adver- 
sity is the blessing of the New, which carrieth 
the greater benediction, and the clearer reve- 
lation of God's favour. Yet even in the Old 
Testament, if you listen to David's harp, you 
shall hear as many hearselike airs as carols ; 
and the pencil of the Holy Ghost hath la- 
boured more in describing the affiictions of Job 
than the felicities of Solomon. Prosperity is 
not without many fears and distastes ; and ad- 
versity is not without comforts and hopes. 
We see in needlev/orks and embroideries, it is 
more pleasing to have a lively work upon a 
sad and solemn ground, than to have a dark 
and melancholy work upon a lightsome ground : 
judge, therefore, of the pleasure of the heart 
by the pleasure of the eye. Certainly virtue 



22 or SIMULATION AND 

is like precious odours, most fragrant where 
they are incensed or crushed: for prosperity 
doth best discover vice, but adversity doth best 
discover virtue. 



OF SIMULATION AND DISSIMULATION. 

Dissimulation is but a faint kind of policy 
or wisdom ; for it asketh a strong wit and a 
strong heart to know when to tell truth, and 
to do it : therefore it is the weaker sort of 
politicians that are the greatest dissemblers. 

Tacitus saith, " Livia sorted well with the 
arts of her husband and dissimulation of her 
son ; attributing arts or policy to Augustus, 
and dissimulation to Tiberius :" and again, 
when Mucianus encourageth Vespasian to take 
arms against Vitellius, he saith, "We rise 
not against the piercing judgment of Augustus, 
nor the extreme caution or closeness of Tibe- 
rius :" these properties of arts, or policy, and 
dissimulation and closeness, are indeed habits 
and faculties several, and to be distinguished ; 
for if a man have that penetration of judgment 
as he can discern what things are to be laid 
open, and what to be secreted, and what to be 
showed at half lights, and to whom and when, 
(which indeed are arts of state, and arts of 
life, as Tacitus well calleth them,) to him a 
habit of dissimulation is a hinderance and a 
poorness. But if a man cannot attain to that 
judgment, then it is left to ])im generally to be 



DISSIMULATION. 23 

dose, and a dissembler ; for where a man can- 
not choose or vary in particulars, there it is 
good to take the safest and wariest way in 
general, like the going softly by one that can- 
not well see. Certainly the ablest men that 
ever were have had all an openness and frank- 
ness of dealing, and a name of certainty and 
veracity : but then they were like horses well 
managed, for they could tell passing well when 
to stop or turn ; and at such times, when they 
thought the case indeed required dissimulation, 
if then they used it, it came to pass that the 
former opinion spread abroad, of tlieir good 
faith and clearness of dealing, made them al- 
most invisible. 

There be three degrees of this hiding and 
veiling of a man's self; the first, closeness, 
reservation, and secreey, when a man leaveth 
himself without observation, or without hold 
to be taken, what he is ; the second, dissimu- 
lation in the negative, when a man lets fall 
signs and arguments, that he is not that he is ; 
xud the third, simulation in the afiirmative, 
. when a man industriously and expressly feigns 
and pretends to be that he is not. 

For the first of these, secrecy, it is indeed 
the virtue of a confessor ; and assuredly the 
secret man heareth many confessions ; for who 
will open himself to a blab or a babbler? 
But if a man be thought secret, it inviteth dis- 
covery, as the more close air sucketh in the 
more open ; and, as in confessing, the reveal- 
ing is not for worldly use, but for the case of 



24 OF SIMULATION AND 

a man's heart, so secret men come to the 
knowledge of many things in that kind ; while 
men rather discharge their minds than impart 
their minds. In few words, mysteries are due 
to secrecy. Besides (to say truth) nakedness 
is uncomely, as well in mind as in body ; and 
it addeth no small reverence to men's manners 
and actions, if they be not altogether open. 
As for talkers and futile persons, they are com- 
monly vain, and credulous withal : for he that 
talketh what he knoweth will also talk what 
he knoweth not ; therefore set it down, that a 
habit of secrecy is both politic and moral : 
and in this part it is good, that a man's face 
give his tongue leave to speak ; for the discov- 
ery of a man's self, by the tracts of his coun- 
tenance, is a great weakness and betraying, by 
how- much it is many times more marked and 
believed than a man's words. 

For the second, which is dissimulation, it 
followeth many times upon secrecy by a ne- 
cessity ; so that he that will be secret must be 
a dissembler in some degree : for men are too 
cunning to suffer a man to keep an indifferent 
carriage between both, and to be secret, with- 
out swaying the balance on either side. They 
will so beset a man with questions, and draw 
him on, and pick it out of him, that, without 
an absurd silence, he must show an inclina- 
tion one way; or, if he do not, they will gath- 
er as much by his silence as by his speech. 
As for equivocations, or oracuious speeches, 
tliey cannot hold out, long. So that no man 



DISSIMULATION. 25 

can be secret, except he give himself a little 
scope of dissimulation, which is, as it were, 
- but the skirts or train of secrecy. 

But for the third degree, which is simula- 
tion and false profession, that I hold more cul- 
pable, and less politic, except it be in great 
and rare matters : and, therefore, a general 
custom of simulation (which is this last de- 
gree) is a vice rising either of a natural false- 
ness, or tearfulness, or of a mind that hath 
some main faults ; which, because a man 
must needs disguise, it maketh him practise 
simulation in other things, lest his hand should 
be out of use. 

The advantages of simulation and dissimu- 
lation are three : first, to lay asleep opposition, 
and to surprise ; for where a man's intentions 
are published, it is an alarm to call up all that 
are against them ; the second is, to reserve to 
a man's self a fair retreat ; for if a man en- 
gage himself by a manifest declaration, he 
must go through, or take a fall : the third is, 
the better to discover the mind of another ; 
for to him that opens himself men will hardly 
show themselves averse; but will (fair) let 
him go on, and turn their freedom of speech 
to freedom of thought ; and therefore it is a 
good shrewd proverb of the Spaniard, " Tell 
a lie and find a troth," as if there were no way 
of discovery but by simulation. There be also 
three disadvantages to set it even; the first, 
that simulation and dissimulation commonly 
carry witii them a show of tearfulness, which 
3 



26 OF PARE.NTr^ AND CHILDREN. 

in any business doth spoil the feathers of round 
flying up to the mark ; the second, that it puz- 
zleth and perplexeth the conceits of many, 
that perhaps would otherwise cooperate with 
him, and makes a man walk almost alone to his 
o^vn ends ; the third and greatest is, that it 
depriveth a man of one of the most prihcipal 
instruments for action, v/hich is trust and be- 
lief. The best composition and temperature 
is, to have openness in fame and opinion ; se- 
crecy in habit; dissimulation in seasonable 
use, and a power to feign, if there be no 
remedy. 



OF PARENTS AND CIliLDREN. 

TiiE joys of parents are secret, and so are 
their griefs and fears ; il^i^j cannot utter the 
one, nor they will not utter the other. Chil- 
dren sweeten labours, but they make misfor- 
tunes more bitter ; they increase the cares of 
life, but they mitigate the remembrance of 
death. The perpetuity by generation is com- 
mon to beasts ; but memory, merit, and noble 
works are proper to men : and surely a maij 
shall see the noblest works and found;;lions 
ha^'e proceeded from childless men, which 
have ioiiglit to express the iiii:^p;es of their 
Eiiuds, where these of their bodies hiive faiied ; 
fa> the care of posterity b mast in ihtm that 
have no posterity. They ih.^ are the Sr:^t 
raisers of their houye^^ j:rc most induig^nt 



OF PARENTS AND CHILDREN'. 27 

towards their cliildren, bi^liolding them as the 
continuance, not only of their kind, but of 
their work ; and so both children and creatures. 
The difference in affection of parents to- 
wards their several children is many times un- 
equal and sometimes unworthy, especially in 
the mother ; as Solomon saith, '• a wise soil 
rcjoiccth the father, but an ungracious son 
shame's the mother." A man shall see, 
^vhere there is a house full of cliild^'en, one or two 
of the eldest respected, and the youngest made 
w aiitons ; but in the midst some that are as it 
%vere forgotten, who, many times, nevertheiess, 
prove the best. Th6 illiberality of parents, in 
allowance tov/ards their children, is a harmful 
error ; and makes them base ; acquaints them 
with shifts ; makes them sort with mean com- 
pany ; and makes them surfeit more when they 
come to plent}' : and therefore the proof is best 
when men keep their authority towards their 
children, but not their purse. Men have a 
foolish manner (both parents and school- 
masters and servants) in creating and breeding 
an emulation between brothers during child- 
hood, v/hich many times sorteth to discord 
when they are men, and disturbeth families* 
The Italians make little difference betw^een 
children and nephev/s, or near kinsfolks ; but 
so they be of the lump, they care not, though 
they pass not through their own body ; and, to 
bQj truth, in nature, it is much a like matter; 
insomuch that we see a nephew sometimes re- 
Kf-mblo'lii an uncle or a kinsman more than his 



28 OF MARRIAGE AND SINGLE LIFE. 

own parents, as the blood happens. Let pa- 
rents choose betimes the vocations and courses 
they mean their children should take, for then 
they are most flexible ; and let them not too 
much apply themselves to the disposition of 
their children, as thinking they will take best 
to that which they have most mind to. It is 
true, that, if the affection or aptness of the 
children be extraordinary, then it is good not 
to cross it ; but generally the precept is good, 
^' optimum elige, suave et facile illud faciet 
consuetudo." Younger brothers are com- 
monly fortunate, but seldom or never where 
the elder are disinherited. 



OP MARRIAGE AND SINGLE LIFE. 

He that hath wife and children hath given 
liostages to fortune ; for they are impediments 
to great enterprises, either of virtue or mis- 
chief. Certainly the best works, and of great- 
est merit for the public, have proceeded from 
the unmarried or childless men ; which, both in 
affection and means, have married, and endow- 
ed the public. Yet it were great reason that 
those that have children should have greatest 
care of future times, unto which they know 
they must transmit their dearest pledges. 
Some there are, who, though they lead a 
single life, yet then- thoughts do end with 
themselves, and account future times imper- 
iinences ; nay, there are $ome other that 



OF MARRIAGE AND SINGLE LIFE. 29 

account wife and children but as bills of 
charges : nay, more, there are some foolish, rich, 
covetous men, that take a pride in having no 
children, because they may be thought so much 
the richer ; for perhaps they have heard some 
talk, " Such an one is a great rich man," and 
another except to it, '' Yea, but he hath a 
great charge of children;'^ as if it were an 
abatement to his riches : but the most ordi- 
nary cause of a single life is liberty, especially 
in certain self-pleasing and humorous minds, 
which are so sensible of every restraint, as 
tliey vdll go near to think their girdles and 
garters to be bonds and shackles. Unmarried 
men are best friends, best masters, best ser- 
vants, but not always best subjects ; for they 
are light to run away ; and almost all fugitives 
are of that condition. A single life doth well 
v/ith churchmen, for charity will hardly water 
the ground where it must first fill a pool. It is 
indifferent for judges and magistrates ; for, if they 
be facile and corrupt, you shall have a servant 
five times worse than a mfe. For soldiers, I 
find the generals commonly, in their hortatives, 
put men in mind of their wives and children ; 
and I think the despising of marriage among 
the Turks maketh the vulgar soldier more 
base. Certainly wife and children are a kind 
of discipline of humanity ; and single men, 
though they be many times more charitable, 
because their means are less e?:haust, yet, on 
the other side, they are more cruel and hard- 
h:-arted, (a:ood to make severe inquisitors,) 
3 * 



so OP ENVY. 

because their tenderness is not so oft called 
upon. Grave natures, led by custom, and 
therefore constant, are commonly loving hus- 
bands, as was said of Ulysses, ^^ vetulam suam 
praitulit immorialitati." Chaste women are of- 
ten proud and froward, as presuming upon 
the merit of their chastity. It is one of the 
best bonds, both of chastity and obedience, 
in the wife, if she think her husband wise, 
%vhich she will never do if she j5nd him jealous. 
Wives are young men's mistresses, compan- 
ions for middle age, and old men's nurses; so 
as a man may have a quarrel to marry w^hen 
he will : but yet he was reputed one of the 
wise men that made answer to the question 
when a man should marry : — " A young man 
not yet, an elder man not at all." It is often 
seen, that bad husbands have very good wives ; 
whether it be that it raiseth the price of their 
husbands' kindness when it comes, or that the 
wives take a pride in their patience ; but this 
never fails if the bad husbands were of their 
©w?i choosing, against their friends' consent, 
for then they will be sure to make good their 
own folly. 



OF ENVY. 

There be none of the affections which 
have been noted to fascinate, or bewitch, but 
love and envy : they both have vehement 

wishes ; they frame themselves readily into 



^ or ENVY. 31 

invaginations and suggestions ; and they come 
easily into the eye^ especially upon the pres- 
ence of tlic objects which are the points that 
conduce to fasciiiation, if any such thing there 
be. We see, likewise, the scripture calleth 
envy an evil eye ; and the astrologers call the 
evil influences of the stars evil aspects ; so that 
still there seemeth to be acknowledged, in the 
act of envy, an ejaculation, or irra.diation of the 
eye : nay, some ha^/e been so curious as to 
note, that the times when the stroke or 
percussion of an envious eye doth most hurt, 
are, when the party envied is beheld in glory 
or triumph ; for that sets an edge upon envy : 
and, besides, at such times the spirits of the 
person envied do come forth most into the 
outward parts, and so meet the blow. 

But, leaving these curiosities, (though not 
unworthy to be thought on in fit place^) we 
will handle what persons are apt to envy 
others; what persons are most subject to be 
envied themselves ; and what is the differ- 
ence between public and private envy. 

A man that hath no virtue in himself ever 
envieth virtue in others ; for men's minds will 
either feed upon their own good, or upon oth- 
ers' evil ; and who v/anteth the one will prey 
upon the other : and whoso is out of hope to 
attain another's virtue will seek to come at 
even hand by depressing another's fortune. 

A man that is busy and inquisitive is com- 
monly envious ; for to know much of other 
men's matters: cannot be,, beeau^^e- oil thftt ado 



32 OF KNvy. • 

may concern his own estate ; tlierefore it must 
needs be that he taketh a kind of play-pleasure 
in looking upon the fortunes of others; neither 

can he that mindeth but his own business find 
much matter for envy ; far envy is a gadding 
passion, and vvalketh the streets, and doth not 
Keep at home: " Non est curiosus, quin idem 
sit malevolus.'' 

Men of noble birth are noted to be envious 
tovv'ards iit-w men Vvhcn they rise ; for the dis- 
tance k altered ; and it is like a deceit of the 
eye, that when others come on they think 
ihemselves go back. 

Deformed persons and eunuchs, and old men 
and bastards, arc envlons : for he that cannot 
possibly mend his own case will do what he 
can to impair another's ; except these defects 
light upon a very brave and heroical nature, 
which thinketh to make his natural wants part 
of his honour ; in that it should be said, " that 
an eunuch, or a lame man, did such great 
matters ;" affecting the honour of a miracle : 
as it was in Narses, the eunuch, and Agesilaua 
and Tamerlane, that were lame men. 

The same is the case of men who rise after 
calamities and misfortunes; for they are as 
men fidleu out v. ilii the limes, and think other 
men's harms a redemption of their own suf- 
ferings. 

They that desire to excel in too many mat- 
ters, out of levity and vain glory, are ever en- 
vious, for they cannot ^vant v-'ork ; it being 



OF ENVY. 23 

impossible but maiiy^, in some one of those 
things, should surpass them ; which was the 
character of Adrian the emperor, that mortally 
c-nvied poetSj and painters, and artilicers in 
\^ orks, wherein he had a wein to excel. 

Lastly, near kinsfolks, and fellows in office^ 
and those that are bred together, are more apt 
to envy their equals when they are raised ; 
for it doth upbraid unto them their own for- 
tunes, and pointeth at them, and cometh of- 
Jener into their remembrance, and incurreth 
likewise more into the note of others ; and 
envy ever redoubietii from speech and fame. 
Cain's envy was the more vile and malignant 
towards his brother Abel, because, when his 
jyaerifice was better accepted, there was nobody 
to look on. Thus much for those that are apt 
to envy. 

Concerning those that arc more or less sub= 
ject to envy : First, persons of eminent virtue, 
when tliey are advanced, are less envied; for 
their fortune seemeth but due unto them ; and 
aio man envieth tlie payment of a debt, but 
rewards and liberality rather. Again, envy is 
ever joined with the comparing of a man's 
self -J and where there is no comparison, no 
envy ; and therefore kings are not envied hut 
by kings. Nevertheless it is to be noted, that 
unworthy persons are most envied at their first 
coniing in, and afterv/ards overcome it better; 
whereas, contrarivv-ise, persons of worth and 
merit are most en^aed ^vhen their fortune ccn- 



34 or ExvY. 

tinueth long ; for by that time, though their 
vh-tue be the same, yet it hath not the same 
lustre, for fresh men grow up to darken it. 

P(irsons of noble Blood are less envied in 
their rising ; for it seemeth but right done t6 
their birth : besides, there seemeth not much 
added to their fortune ; and envy is as the sun- 
beams, that beat hottsr upon a^bank or steep 
rising ground than upon a flat ; and for the same' 
reason, those that are advanced by degrees are 
less envied than those that are advanced sud- 
denly, and "per saltum." 

Those that have joined v;ith their honour 
great travels, cares, and perils, are less subject 
to envy ; for men think that they earn their 
honours hardly, and pity them sometimes ; and 
pity ever healeth envy : v/herefore you shall 
observe, that the more deep and sober sort of 
politic persons, in their greatness, are ever be- 
moaning themselves what a life they lead, 
chanting a ''-quanta patimur;" not that they 
feel it so, but only to abate the edge of envy : 
but this is to be understood of business that is 
laid upon men, and not such as they call unto, 
themselves; for nothing increaseth envy more 
than an unnecessary and ambitious engrossing 
of business ; and nothing doth extinguish envy 
more than for a great person to preserve all 
other inferior officers in their full rights and 
pre-eminences of their places; for by that 
means there be so many screens between him 
and envy. 



Above all, those are most subject to envy, 
which carry the greatness of their fortunes in 
an insolent and proud manner : being never 
well but v/hile they are showing liovv^ great 
they are, either by outward pomp, or by tri- 
umphing over all oppointlon or competition : 
whereas Vvise men will realier do sacrifice to 
envy, in snifering themselves sometimes cf 
purpose to be crossed and overborne in 
things that do not m^ach concern tliem. Not- 
withstanding so much is true, tli&t tlie carriage 
cf greatness in a plain and opc?i voramQr (so 
it be witbont arrogziivj nrid \:\h\ glory) dotii 
draw less enxj than iC it h^ iu a more crafty 
and cunninp; fashion ; for in that course a man 
doth but disavow f^ntune, and seemetli to be 
conscious of his own wsn'^ in worih, and doth 
but teach others to envy him. 

Lastly, to conclude ih^V; part ; as wc said 
in the beginning that tl.e act of envy had 
somewhat in it of witclicrali, so there is no 
other cure of envy but the cure of witchcivt': ; 
and that is, to remove ths lot; (osthey call it,') 
mxd to lay it upon another, for vhich purpose 
the wiser sort of grsat psrsons bring In ever 
irpon the stage somebody upon wh^m to de- 
rive the envy that would come upon them- 
- selves; sometimes upon ministers and ser- 
vants, sometimes upon cotloagucs and associ- 
ates, and the lihe ; and ios rhat toYU there are 
never wanting ssme w:r::ons of vio:.;i3: zn.d 
undercaJilng nature:, -^ ho, go they may hare 
power and hu^iner-, -^-iii lake it at any cost. 



36 OF £Nvr, 

Now, to speak of public envy : there is yet 
some good in public envy, vv hereas in private 
there is none ; for public envy is as an ostra- 
cism, that eclipseth men when they grow too 
great : and therefore it is a bridle also to great 
ones to keep within bounds. 

This envy being in the Latin word "invi- 
dia," goeth in the modern languages by the 
name of discontentment ; of which we shall 
speak in handling sedition : it is a disease in 
a state like to infection : for as infection 
spreadeth upon that which is sound, and taint- 
eth it ; so, when envy is gotten once into a 
stale, it traduceth even the best actions thereof, 
and turneth them into an ill odour; and there- 
fore there is little won by intermingling of 
plausible actions : for that doth argue but a 
weakness and fear of envy, which hurteth so 
much the more, as it is likewise usual in in- 
fections, whichjif you fear them, you call them 
upon you. 

This public envy seemeth to bear chiefly 
upon principal oflicers or ministers, rather than 
upon kings and states themselves. But this is 
a sure rule, that if the envy upon the minister 
be great, when the cause of it in him is small ; 
cr if the envy be general in a manner upon all 
the ministers of an estate, then the envy 
(though hidden) is truly upon the state itself 
And so much of public envy or discontent, and 
the difference f^iP-ieQi from priv:.tc envy, which 
was handled in the fir?t plivcc. 



or Love. - 87 

We will add this in generalj touching the af- 
fection of envy, that of aii other affections it 
is the most importune and continual; for of 
other affections there is occasion given but now 
and then ; and therefore it was well said, 
*' Invidia festos dies non agit :" for it is ever 
working upon some or other. And it is also 
noted, that love and envy do make a man pine, 
which other affections do not, because they are 
not so continual. It is also the vilest affection, 
and the most depraved ; for which cause it is 
the proper attribute of the devil, who is called, 
** The envious man, that soweth tares amongst 
the wheat by night;" as it always cometh to 
pass, that envy woiketh subtly, and in the 
dark, and to the prejudice of good things, such 
35 is the wheat. 



The stage is more beholding to love than 
the life of raan ; for as to the stage, love is 
ever matter of comedies, and now and then 
cf tragedies ; but m life it doth much mis- 
chief ; sometimes like a siren, sometimes like 
a fury. Yon may observe, that, amongst all 
the great and worthy persons, (whereof the 
-:.£raory ra^iiije:];^ e:-:hcr ^zi^-iut or recent,), 

!i;£ rr:id degree c: love; xvljicb shows ih^t 
f'lti^. spints eni cTe*"" "business do keeD out 



4IS OF lote:- 

tMs weak pas.si'in. You must except, never- 
tlieless, Mareus AatoBkis^ tbe half pattiier o-f 
thG. emrme of Rome, and Appius Claudius, tlie 
deeeixiTir and lawg^iver; whereof the former 
M^r>s indeed a volu-pltrous man and iBordiiiate; 
hut the latter was an ari&tere and wise man : 
and therefore ii seems (tltoiiglt rarely) ibist 
love can find eDtrancey not only into an opem 
heart., but ako into a Iieai't well fortifiedj if 
'wm^k he not well kept. It is a poor sayinp^ 
oi E|)i£iiriiSy " Satis uiagnnm alter alteri tLea.- 
tfiii^ii snmiis-;''' as- if man. made for tlse eoK- 
tem pi atioH of IieaFen, and all noble ofeject^j 
?liQuid da notliittg; biit kneei before a litt;Ie 
idol, end ma^e liimself a: subject^ t?mTtg:Ii5 Bo-t 
of tbe month,-, (as- b-eaBfe are,) yet of the eye, 
wliicli was given Iiim for higlter purposesr l.t 
Is 3 stxange ibmg lo note the excess- of t}n» 
passion^ and how it braves tlie nidme ai/d valne 
of things by this, that thi speaiiiag- in a pes- 
peUidl hyperbole is comely in notbijig but it& 
iore ; neitlver i«5 k mejeij m fne plniise; fbf 
whereas it h&xh bee-o well «;4d. " ?mt ^^ 
srch tiatterer,. witli irbom &,!! ibe pretty f at-- 
teret's hare fntelligeiGce, h a nian% self j'^ cer^ 
tain ly the lover is More;, &>t there "^va^ nevc'?' 
a proud man thoitght &'^ aba^sdly ^^ell of him- 
self ag the lover doth of the fefmu We'd;; 
aM therefore it wa,«> v^ell sai-d^-^tte it ig^ 
inrooss^ble to love arr-d to be wise.-''' Keltte" 
'i^-m tlus^ wer^ktiess appecS-r to othets ofifyj ^iTsd^ 
rioc ix> the p-trvy IoVo>l^ l^ot to^ t^he I'm-ed mf^sm' 
^•:fUK- C"3.ir.v. fbolovf be rriPiprAral; p-f i^ h^ 



C3F LOVE. 39 

» true rule, that love is ever rewarded either 
with the reciprocal or with an inward or secret 
contempt j by how much more the men ought 
tt> beware of tiiis passion, which loseth tot 
only other things, hut itself. As for ilie other 
Sx)sses5 ^^1^ poet's relation doth well iigiire 
them ; " that he that preferred Helena quitted 
l^e gifts of Juno and Pallas;'' for whoso- 
ever esteemeth too much of amorous affection 
tpittetli both riches and wdsdorn. This pf\s- 
sion hath its floods in the very times of we^- 
i^ess, wliich are, great prosperity and great ad- 
Tersity, though this latter liath been less 
ehserrM ; both which times kindle loye. and 
fiiake it more fer^'ent., anxl tiierefore show it to 
Ise tlie child of folly. Tiiey do Isest, wdiOj if 
iliey cannot hut admit love, yet make it keep 
«|iiaiter, and sever it v/holly from tlielr serloii? 
affairs and actions of life; for, if it clieci: OTiCe 
with business, it trouMeth men's fortuneSj snd 
laaketla men diat they can no ways lie tnie t^ 
their own ends, i know not liovv, but mar- 
tini men are given to love ; I tliink it is hut as 
they are given to wine; for perils commonly 
ask to he paid in pleasures- There is in man's 
laatnre a secret inclinatjon and motion tow^ards 
love of other:^, which, if it be not spent upon 
some one, ^r a few, dotli natnraily spread it- 
self towards many, and maketk men l>eeo.n3e 
liumane -and claad tabic, as it is seen ipometiines 
m friars. Nuptiai love makeih mankind | 
Mendly love peifecteth it; l)Xit wanton love 
(ie£>inipteth and eicl^asstk it 



OF ORE AT PLACE. 



OF GREAT PLACE. 



Mei\ ^.. great place are tlirice servants; 
Servants of tlie sovereign or state, servants of 
fame, and servants of business; so as they 
have no freedom, neither in their persons, nor 
in their actions, nor in their times. It is a 
strange desire to seek power and to lose 
liberty ; or to seek power over others, and to 
lose power over a man's self. The rising unto 
place is laborious, and by pains men come to 
greater pains ; and it is sometimes base, and 
by indignities men come to dignities. The 
standing is slippery, and the regress is either 
a downfall, or at least an eclipse, which is a 
melancholy thing : " Cum non sis qui fueris, 
non esse cur velis vivere ?'' Nay, retire men 
cannot when they would, neither will they 
when it were reason ; but are impatient of 
privateness even in age and sickness, which 
require the shadow ; like old townsmen, that 
will be still sitting at their street door, though 
thereby they oiFer age to scorn. Certain- 
ly great persons had need to borrow other 
men's opinions to think themselves happy ; 
for if they judge by their own feeling, they 
cannot find it : but if they think with them- 
selves what other men think of them, and that 
other men would fain be as they are, then they 
are happy as it were by report, when perhaps 
they find the contrary within : for they are 
the first that find their own griefs, though thej 



hit ^ti h.§l thftt Ead t^^T '&tv^ £miiis. Cea^ 

'^•a^iiselves, -a^id wliile tacy ure iri t^ jmizik 
t4!>f 'feit^liess tfeey Isave a^o time to teM ih'ek 
'^le.^^h. t&he^ ai ^^ody /OT Sakd.: "Uli iniws 
^^s iM^u^?ii*>, qi-ii ^iK^tfts aioais ornftil)!^ if M)- 
5?^ 5ii(?>iit:mi- sibi.'" 1^ p^ace ^^lie^e is license i^ 
<({<b lg^0^ ^rJi €vii^ wbtereof ihe^ lafeter is ^ 
<eM^:: ^ ilk 'eriil *fee 'best condition is not t© 
^w*fl> #ie s€<roncI {lot to call., Brnt^owd^-mf^ 
^6(}k'i^ the ts=ti6x.n^liuvM end of .aspiring- fer 
^0^4 thwigkts (#ioi^# God accept t|eK^ .yetV 
>to«v<&fds^>eii are iittl€ 'tfetteo- tnan g&e><l ^(ire^nas^ 
ic^imt -tke^ fee ]Kit in act'; qM -tfet ^afeot -be 
Wrtkout :p6vv«r^d ^aee^ as t$ie vantage jsM 
<coraffiai^ftg grofe^a. ^lerS andgood woife-i^ 
^be ^M ^ ■iB:a?a's ^otioi?> £«^ •consc^en^e oi 
^ke^iae 'is Che accorn]>liJ^«^*^^t &i^Mv-s Test-: 
ftor ^ a a«sn ^m i^ ipai^afcef ^ #od^s I^M^atr*^ 
%^:^al Mkew^ise be ^a^afejl- of =©8^^'* ^i^t> 
'« Et timi^e^^iis Petis, vt T^spic^ret ^a|>em, ^cpa^e 
ifeceniiit ttianiis sii?^, Vidit_ qii^od^oinnia e^ss^^^c 
%eMa fKrfds >'' ^a¥>d -then l^lie *a;jo>^iB-- is ^^mc 
fe<^-a?[^e ^^f 'tliv iplace set before thee ir^e -oes^ 
iemm^s;; %r i^ifetion ^^ ^a s^loPe :ot p^ec^ts^ 
%^d ^Aer % €me ^s^M before me tii^ne :o ,j^=h ^x-^ 
rc«ft»>k-; -and e^^a^itie tirvse'i ^mctk wi«^.^er 
ttkM'M#t4iMt)est at ^|r^.. -J^i^gleet noPa^BO 
%e ^e?^mi>ia ^of tkase,^at ¥ave cjteeei th^nr- 
%^ves^4lfee sa^iepfece^; ^oPto f^oa th^- 
%^ ^v •>tfe>^? tfceir meifioiT, %iFt ^o ^feect my- 



42 ©F OREAT PLACEv 

but yet set it down to thyself, as well to create 
good precedents as to follow them. Reduce 
things to the first institution, and observe 
wherein and how they have degenerated ; but 
yet ask counsel of both times ; of the ancient 
time what is best ; and of the latter time what 
is fittest. Seek to make thy course regular, 
that men may know beforehand what they 
may expect; but be not too positive and peremp- 
tory ; and express thyself well when thou di- 
gressest from thy rule. Preserve the right of 
thy place, but stir not questions of jurisdiction ; 
and rather assume thy right in silence, and 
"de facto," than voice it with claims and 
challenges. Preserve likewise the rights of 
inferior places ; and think it more honour to 
direct in chief than to be busy in all. Embrace 
and invite helps and advices touching the exe- 
cution of thy place , and do not drive away 
such as bring thee information as meddlers, but 
accept of them in good part. The vices of 
authority are chiefly four ; delays, corruption, 
roughness, and facility. For delays, give easy 
access ; keep times appointed ; go through 
with that which is in hand, and interlace not 
business but of necessity. For corruption, 
do not only bind thine own hands or thy ser- 
vant's hands from taking, but bind the hands 
of suitors also from oifering ; for integrity used 
doth the one ; but integrity professed, and with 
a manifest detestation of bribery, doth the 
other ; and avoid not only the fault, but the 
suspicion. Whosoever is found variable, and 



or WHEAT PLACE. 43 

chahgeth manifestly without manifest cause, 
givetli suspicion of corruption ; therefore, al- 
ways, when thou changest thine opinion or 
course, profess it plainly, and declare it, to- 
gether with the reasons that move thee to 
change, and do not think to steal it. A ser- 
vant or a favourite, if he be inward, and no 
other apparent cause of esteem, is commonly 
thought but a by-way to close corruption. For 
roughness, it is a needless cause of discontent : 
severity breedeth fear, but roughness breedeth 
hate. Even reproofs from authority ought to 
be grave, and not taunting. As for facility, it 
is worse than bribery ; for bribes come but 
now and then ; but if importunity or idle re- 
spects lead a man, he shall never be without ; 
as Solomon saith, " To respect persons it is not 
good, for such a man wdli transgress for a piece 
of bread." It is most true that was anciently 
spoken, " A place shov/eth the man ; and it 
showeth some to the better, and some to the 
■worse :" " omnium consensu, capax imperii, 
nisi imperasset," saith Tacitus of Galba ; but 
of Vespasian he saith, " solu;? imperantium, 
Vespasianus mutatus in melius;" though the 
one was meant of sufficiency, the other of 
manners and affection. It is an assured sign 
of a worthy and generous spirit, whom honour 
amends ; for honour is, or should be, the place 
of virtue ; and as in nature things move vio- 
lently to their place, and calmly in their place, 
go virtue in ambition is violent, in authority 
settled and calm. All rising to great place h 



u 



'Oi' 3S&i,i)NilS^\ 



bj k wiii'diag siaif > m(% if th^.tc ht innkflfej it. 
k ^OoA Id Side a ffiari's self wluist he is iii the 
^isilig., mrd to baiafti3e litmst^l'f wheii he is 
|>]keecU IJse tire iitemory oi' thy predeeessof 
|aifly aiid tei^{5^riy^ fer/ii" t^ioli <lost hot, ii 
is ^ <lebt mil siife be paid ^v^ieai tlioXi ar^ 
gone^ ^ Ii" tl\oii Kafe eollea^ues^ respect tlifeBa,^ ., 
'm\A ratlier eall tli^M wken tKey look i\Qi fei^ i 
thark ex'cl'iide tkein w^^^ii iiie.y liave reasenW 
Jo9k to be calieri". Be "not w^ seiisiijle of toe 
Temeiiibermg oi tky place in eonvers'ati^ii aiul 
liriyate aHifwfers to B\^itors ^ but let It mher be 
M4, J'M'Vheii l\e sits ili ^itccte lie is aftotliel- 



\\oitbv a \vi -^m^R^is Oi^-itleratJ^ii Quesuoj^ 
N\f*'^ ^sKeit 0? f^em^^t^ir .eb " lat \^ ^^ il^e chief 
l3ait of rn oii 3T 'ii A ^'^N^fie 1, ^c imi uha^ 
* \? ^ ait^oi -i ^t iif^t i^e?!^ nt'Ji^ He 
^iic" it t^at J J -^^ U '^ ' nil Lao bv ■''>hU r'^ 
^^ri^st-tf i ^»^ ilrj i *-'iat he eo iiniC iHiec' 
"^ <^ii\r>„<^ ^ ii „ lit i' ^^ ?o ^"^ -'i -oiaio 
V h^x ri IS b r 'v , r > 1 )K ;\-ii i ^ i .♦*» iKe \ntii-^ 
O'^aHptci, ^i iii(' b jbtf-^a «.f ..* ^rb above 
tbose olber vouiC *'-'*s / i nnuiou, f ^c^ mePi 
irM tbe le^ii ' ii-^i u^Vio-^t i ci c, •!>> ^f i^ \^-er- 
all HI al] n- ,i ^r-1^ iec"'^'^n i^ ^^l-^m Ibere !•* 
^n Ihiimai ndhii ^efte""k\ iuoie ol t'l^ fool 
H=i\rt of tb \ ] ^ I'd 1 iel(Hi Ib'^^f fafu^ 



©P BOLDNESS. 45 

ties by which the foolish part of men's minds 
is taken are most potent. Wonderful like 
is the case of boldness in civil business; 
what first ? boldness : what second and third ? 
boldness. And yet boldness is a child of ig- 
norance and baseness, far inferior to other 
parts : but, nevertheless, it doth fascinate, and 
bind hand and foot those that are either shal- 
low in judgment or weak in courage, which 
are the greatest part : yea, and prevaiieth with 
wise men at weak times; therefore we see it 
hath done wonders in popular states," but with 
senates and princes less ; and more, ever upon 
the first entrance of bold persons into action 
than soon after; for boldness is an ill keeper 
of promise. Surely, as there are mountebanks 
for the natural body, so' are there mountebanks 
for the politic body ; men that undertake great 
cures, and perhaps liave been lucky in two or 
three experiments, but want the ground of 
science, and therefore cannot hold out : nay, 
you shall see a bold fellow many times do Ma- 
homet's miracle. Mahomet made the people 
believe that he w^ould call a hill to him, and 
from the top of it oiler up his prayers for the 
observers of his law. The people assembled : 
Mahomet called the hill to come to him again 
and again ; and when the hill stood still he was 
never a whit abashed, but said, " If the hill 
will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet will go to 
the hill." So these men, when they have prom- 
ised great matters, and failed most shamefully, 
yet (if they have the perfection of boldness) 



46 or (iOODlNiES.S, AND 

tliey will but slight it over, and make a tarn, and 
11)0. more ado. Certainly, to men of great judg- 
ment, bold men are sport to behold; nay, and 
to the vulgar, also, boldness hath somewhat of 
the ridiculous : for, if absurdity be the snbject 
of laughter, doubt you not but great boldness 
is seldom without some absurdity ; especially 
it is a sport to see when a bold fellow is out 
of countenance, for that puts his face into a 
most shrunken and w^ooden posture, as need,^ 
it must : for in bashfulness the spirits do a lit- 
tle go and come ; but with bold men, upon like 
occasion, they stand at a stay ; like a stale at 
chesSj where it is no mate, but yet the game 
cannot stir : but this last vrere titter for a sat- 
ire than for a serious observation. This is 
well to be weighed, that boldness is ever 
blind ; for it St^.eth not dangers and inconve- 
niences : therefore it is ill in counsel, good in 
execution ; so that the right use oi bold per- 
sons is, tiiat they never command hi chi^f, but 
be seconds, and under the direction of others : 
for in counsel it is good to see dangers, and in 
execution not to see them, eiccept they be very 
great 



OF GOODNESS, AND GOODNESS OF NATl'Ri:. 

I TAKs goodness in lids sense, the aifectlng 
of the weal of men, Vvhich is that the Gre- 
cians call PhiltsSithropia ; and the word hu- 
icanity (as it is iised) is a little too light to 
express it Ooc-daes? I call the habit, and 



gooduess of nature the inclination. This, of 
all virtues and dignities of the mind, is the 
gi'eatest, being the character of the Deity; 
and without it man is a btisy, mi&chievouj?, 
wretched thing-, no better than a. kind of ver- 
min. Goodness answers to the theok)gic3l 
virtue charity, and admits no excess but error. 
The desire of power in excess caused the an- 
gels to fail ; the desire of knowledge in excess 
caused man to fall : but in charity there is no ex- 
cess, neither can angel or man come in danger 
by it. The inclination io goodness is imprinted 
deeply in the nature of man ; insomiich that, 
if it issue not towards men, it will take unto 
other living creatures ; ss it is seen in the 
Turks, a cruel people, who nevertheless are 
kind to beasts, and give alms to dogs and 
birds ; insomuch, as Bttsbechius rq)OFtet]i, s 
Chiistian boy in Constantinople had like to 
have been stoned for gagging in a waggis'hiie.«,4 
a Iong-bilk:d fo\^i. Erroi's, indeed, in thisvif^ 
tue, ID goodness or chaiity, may be committed- 
The Italians liave an ringracious proveru, 
*' Tanto buon che val niente ;'^ " So good, that 
he is good for nothhlg r^ and one of the doe- 
tors of Italy, Nicholas Maehiavel, had the 
coniidence to put In wnting, almost in plain 
!:en\is, " Tliat the Christisn faith had given «p 
f-ood ];ie:n iii prey to those that are tyfannicat 



illUSt 



Vc liich he spake, because, indeed, 

iiu^-e was never law, ot sect, or opinion, did ?f'l 
iriiicli mai^iiif}- goodiies^; as the Christian reli- 
i'iOiidath • iU« I'^mre, tn pa oifl ifir- ^riindah ^ild 



48 OF GOODNESS, AND 

the danger both it is good to take knowledge 
of the errors of a habit so excellent. Seek 
the good of other men, but be not in bondage 
to their faces or fancies ; for that is but facility 
or softness, which taketh an honest mind pris- 
oner. Neither give thou ^sop's cock a gera, 
who would be better pleased and happier if'he 
had a barley-corn. The example of God 
teacheth this lesson truly ; " He sendeth his 
rain, and maketh his sun to shine upon the 
just and the unjust ;" but he doth not rain 
wealth, nor shine honour and virtues upon 
men equally : common benefits are to be com- 
municated with all, but peculiar benefits with 
choice. And beware how, in making the por- 
traiture, thou breakest the pattern : for divinity 
maketh the love of ourselves the pattern ; the 
love of our neighbours but the portraiture, 
"^ Sell all thou hast, and give it to the poor, and 
follow me :" but sell not ail thou Iiast, except 
thou come and follow me ; that is, ex'jept thou 
have a vocation v/lierein thou mayest do as 
much good with little means as with great; 
for, otherwise, in feeding the streams, thou dri- 
est the fountain. Neither is there only a habit 
of goodness directed by right reason ; but 
there is in some men, even in nature, a dispo- 
sition towards it; as, on i'ae other side, there 
iz s naturd loal^gi^ity : for there be thr^t in 

The lighter tort of miligiii^y turiieth but to l 
t:"QS:n'::^% or frowardness, c? ^-^tntss'to oppose, 
or difiicilfincss, <:'r ^he like ; but the dt^per 



I 



r.OODNE.SS OF NATL'RE, 4f> 

«ort to envy or mere mischief. Such men, in 
other men's calamities, are, as it were, in sea- 
son, and are ever on the loading parts : not so 
good as the dogs that licked Lazarus' sores, 
hut like iiies that are siiil buzzing upon any 
thing that is raw ; misanthropi, that make it 
their practice to bring men to the bough, and yet 
have never a tree for the purpose in their gar- 
dens, as Timon had : such dispositions are the 
very errors of human nature, and yet they are 
the fittest timber to make great politics of; 
like to knee timber, that is good for ships that 
are ordained to be tossed, but not for building 
houses that shall stand firm. The parts and 
signs of goodness are many. If a man be 
gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows 
he is a citizen of the world, and that his heart 
is no island cut off from other lands, but a 
continent that joins to them : if he be com- 
passionate towards the afiliciions of others, it 
shows that his heart u like the noble tree that 
is wounded itself wlien it gives the balm : if 
he easily pardons and remits offences, it shows 
that his mind is planted above injuries, so that 
he cannot be shot : if he be thankful for small 
benefits, it shows that he weighs men's minds, 
and not their trash : but, above all, if he have 
St. Paul's perfection, that he would wish to be 
an anathema from Christ, for the salvation of 
his brethren, it shows much of a divine na- 
ture, and a kind of conformity viiili Christ 
himself. 



50 OF A KING, 



1. A KING is a mortal god on earth, unto • 
whom the living God hath lent his own name 
as a great honour ; but withal told him, he 
should die like a man, lest he should be proud, 
and rl-dtter hiniself that God hath with his , 
name imparted unto him his nature also. 

2. Of all kind of men, God is the least be- 
holding unto them ; for he doeth most for 
them, and they do ordinarily least for him. 

3. A king, that would not feel his crown too 
heavy for him, must wear it every day ; but if 
he think it too light, he knoweth not of what 
metal it is made. 

4. He must make religion the rule of gov- 
ernment, and not to balance the scale ; for he 
that castetli in religion only to make the scales 
even, his ov/n v/eight is contained in those char- 
acters, " Mene, mene, tekel upbarsin," " He 
is found too light, his kingdom shall be taken 
from him." 

5. And that king that holds not religion the 
best reason of state, is void of all^ piety and 
justice, the supporters of a king. 

6. He must be able to give counsel himself, 
but not rely thereupon ; for though happy 
events justify their counsels, yet it is better 
that the evil event of good advice be rather 
imputed to a subject than a sovereign. 

7. He is the fountain of honour, which 
should n-;>t nin v.-ilh '>> '"aslo pipe, lest the 



or A KING. 51 

eourtierri sell tlie water, and then (as papists 
say of their holy v/ells) it loses the virtue. 

8. He is the life of the law, not only as he 
is " lex loquens" himself, but because he aa- 
imateth the dead letter, making it active to- 
wards all his subjects, "praemio et poena." 

9. A wise king must do less in altering his 
laws than he may ; for new government is ever 
dangerous ; it being true in the body politic, as 
in the corporal, that " omnis subita immutatio 
est periculosa:" and though it be for the bet- 
ter, yet it is not without a fearful apprehen- 
sion ; for he that changeth the fundamental 
laws of a kingdom thinketh there is no good 
title to a crown but by conquest. 

10. A king that setteth to sale seats of jus- 
tice oppresseth the people ; for he teacheth his 
judges to sell justice ; and " precio parata pre- 
cio venditur justitia." 

11. Bounty and magnificence are virtues 
very regal, but a prodigal king is nearer a ty- 
rant than a parsimonious ; for store at home 
draweth not his contemplations abroad; but 
want supplieth itself of what is next, and 
many times the next way : a king herein must 
be wise, and know what he may justly do. 

12. That king Vv^hicli is not feared is not 
loved ; and he that is well seen in his craft 
must as well study to be feared as loved ; yet 
not loved for fear, but feared for love. 

13. Therefore, as he must always resemble 
him whose great name he beareth, and that as 
irj manifesting the swf'et iiifluenf^e of his mercy 



OF A KING. 



on the severe stroke of his justice sometimes, 
80 in this not to suffer a man of death to livej 
for, besides that the land doth mourn, the re- 
straint of justice towards sin doth more retard 
the affection of love than the extent of mercy 
doth inflame it; and sure where love is [ill] 
bestowed, fear is quite lost. 

14. His greatest enemies are his flatterers ; 
for though they ever speak on his side, yet 
their words still make against him. 

15. The love which a king oweth to a weal 
public should not be restrained to any one par- 
ticular ; yet that his more special favour do re- 
flect upon some w^orthy ones is somewhat 
necessary, because there are few of that 
capacity. 

16. He must have a special care of five 
things, if he would not have his crowp to be 
put to him " infelix felicitas :" 

First, that " simulata sanctitas" be not in 
the church ; for that is " duplex iniquitas :" 

Secondly, that ^^iiiutilis sequitas'' sit not 
in the chancery : for that is " inepta miseri-- 
cordia :" 

Thirdly, that "utilis iniquitas" keep not 
the exchequer : for that is " crudele latrocin- 
ium :" 

Fourthly, that *• frdelis temeritas" be not 
bis general : for that will bring but " seram 
pcenitentiam :" 

Fifthly, that "infidelis prudentia" be not 
his secretary : for that is " anguis sub viridi 
herba." 



i 



CF NOElLITr. 38 

^o conclude ; as he is of tlie greatest pow- 
er, so he is subject to the greatest careSj made 
the servant of his people, or else he were 
without a calling at all. 

^ He, then, that hononreth him not is next 
an atheist, wanting the fear of God in his 
heart. 



OF NOBILITY. 



We will speak of nobility first as a portion 
of an estate, then as a condition of particular 
persons. A monarchy, v/here there is no nobil- 
ity at all, is ever a pure and absolute tyranny, 
as that of the Turks ; for nobility attempers 
sovereignty, and draw^s the eyes of the people 
somewhat aside from the line royal : but for 
democracies they need it not ; and they are 
commonly more quiet, and less subject to sedi- 
tion, than where there are stirps of nobles; 
for men's eyes are upon the business, and not 
upon the persons ; or if upon the persons, it is 
for the business' sake, as fittest, and not for 
flags and pedigree. We see the Switzers last 
well, notwithstanding their diversity of reli- 
gion and of cantons ; for utility is their bond, 
and not respects. The united provinces of 
the Low Countries in their government ex- 
cel ; for where there is an equality the con- 
sultations are more indifferent, and the pay- 
ments and tributes more cheerful. A great 
and potent nobility add eth majf-sty to anion- 



^4 Of NOBiLrji". 

arch, but diniinisheth power j aad puttetli life 
and spirit into the people, but presseth their 
fortune. It is well when nobles are not too- i 
great for sovereignty nor for justice ; and yet 
maintained in that height, as the insolency of 
inferiors may be broken upon thera before it 
come on too fast upon the majesty of kings. 
A numerous nobility causeth poverty and in- 
convenience in a state, for it is a surcharge of 
expense ; and, besides, it being of necessity 
that many of the nobility fall in time to be 
weak in fortune, it maketh a kind of dispro- 
portion between honour and means. 

As for nobility in particular persons, it is a 
reverend thing to see an ancient castle or 
building not in decay, or to see a fair timber 
tree sound and perfect; hov/ much more to 
behold an ancient noble family, which hath 
stood against the v/aves and weathers of time ? 
for new nobility is but the act of power, but an- 
cient nobility is the act of time. Those that 
are first raised to nobility are commonly more 
virtuous, but less innocent than their descend- 
ants ; for there is rarely any rising but by a 
commixture of good and evil arts : but it is 
reason the memory of their virtues remain to 
their posterity, and their faults die with them- 
selves. Nobility of birth commonly abateth 
industry ; and he that is not industrious envi- 
eth him that is ; besides, noble persons cannot 
go much higher: and he that standeth at a 
stay when others rise can hardly avoid mo- 
tions of envy^ On the other side, nobility ex- 



OF SEIjlTlUXS A.ND TllOCHLKS. 35 

tinguisheth the passive envy from other* 
towards them, because they are in posses- 
sion of honour. Certainlyj kings that have 
able men of their nobility shall find ease in 
employing them, and a better slide into their 
business ; for people naturally bend to them 
as bora in some sort to command. 



OF SEDITIONS AND TROL'BLES. 

Shepherds of people had need know the 
calendars of tempests in states, which are com- 
monly greatest when things grow to equality ; 
as natural tempests are greatest about the equi- 
noctia; and as there are certain hollow blasts 
of wind and secret sweHiiigs of seas before a 
tempest, so are there in states : 

'Hie etiarp. ca?co3 iustnre tumultus 



Stcpe monet, fraude.sque et operta tumescere bella." 

Libels and licentious discourses against the 
state, when they are frequent and open ; and 
in like sort false news often running up and 
down, to the disadvantage of the state, and 
hastily embraced, are amongst the signs of 
troubles. Virgil, giving the pedigree of Fame, 
saith she was sister to the giants : 

" Illam terra parens, ira irritata devorum, 
Extremani (ut perliibeiit) C(po Enceladoque sororem 
Progenuit." .^neid, IV. 177. 

As if fames were the relics of seditions past ; 
but they are no less indeed the preludes of se- 



^0 OF SEDITIONS 

ditions to come. Howsoever he noteth it 
right, that seditious tumults and seditious 
fames differ no more but as brother and sister, 
masculine and feminine; especially if it come 
to that, that the best actions of a state, and 
the most plausible, and which ought to give 
greatest contentment, are taken in ill sense, 
and traduced : for that shows the envy great, 
as Tacitus saith, " conflata, magna invidia, seu 
bene, seu male, gesta premunt." Neither 
doth it follow, that because these fames are a 
sign of troubles, that the suppressing of them 
with too much severity should be a remedy 
of troubles ; for the despising of them many 
times checks them best, and the going about 
to stop them doth but make a wonder long 
lived. Also that kind of obedience, which 
Tacitus speaketh of, is to be held suspected : 
" Erant in officio, sed tamen qui mallent man- 
data imperantium interpretari, quam exequi ;" 
disputing, excusing, cavilling upon mandates 
and directions, is a kind of shaking off the 
yoke, and assay of disobedience ; especially 
if, in those disputings, they which are for the 
direction speak fearfully and tenderly, and 
those that are against it audaciously. 

Also, as Machiavel noteth well, when prin- 
ces, that ought to be common parents, make 
themselves as a party, and lean to a side ; it is 
as a boat that is overthrown by uneven v/eight 
on the one side : as was well seen in the 
time of Henry the Third of France ; for first 
iiimself entered league for the extirpation of 



4 



AND TROUBLES. 57 

the protestants, and presently after the same 
league was turned upon himself: for when the 
authority of princes is made but an accessary 
to a cause, and that there be other bands that 
lie faster than the band of sovereignty, kings 
begin to be put almost out of possession. 

Also, v/hen discords, and quarrels, and fac- 
tions, are carried openly and audaciously, it is 
a sign the reverence of government is lost ; 
for the motions of the greatest persons in a 
government ought to be as the m.otions of the 
planets imder "primum mobile," (according 
to the old opinion,) which is, that every of 
them is carried svriftly by the highest motion, 
and softly in their own motion : and, there- 
fore, when great ones in their cvvn particular 
motion move violently, and, as Tacitus ex- 
presseth it vrell, '^ libe^iu^3 quam ut irnperanti- 
iim meminissent," it is a sign the orbs are out 
of frame : for reverence is that v/herewith 
princes are girt from God, who threateneth 
the dissolving thereof; " solvam cingula re~ 
gum." 

So when any of the four pillars of government 
are mainly shaken, or Vvxakened, (which are 
religion, justice, counsel, and treasure,) men 
had need to pray for fair weather. But let us 
pass from this part of predictions, (concerning 
w^hich, nevertheless, mere light may be taken 
from that which folioweth,) and let us speak 
first of the materials of seditions, then of the 
jnotives of them, and thirdly of tlie reme-* 
^es, 



6S t)F SEDITIONS 

Concerning the materials of seditions, it is 
a thing well to be considered ; for the surest 
way to prevent seditions (if the times do bear 
it) is to take away the matter of them ; for^ 
if there be fuel prepared, it is hard to tell 
whence the spark shall come that shall set it 
on fire. The matter of seditions is of two 
kinds, much poverty and much discontent- 
ment. It is certain, so many overthrown es- 
tates, so many votes for troubles. Lucan noteth 
well the state of Rome before the civil v/ar : 

" Hinc usura vorax, rapidiirnque in tempore fcjRUS, 
Iliiic concussa Men, et iimliis utile bcUum." 

This same " multis utile belluni'' is an assur- 
ed and infallible sign of a state disposed to se- 
ditions and troubles ; and if this poverty and 
broken estate in the better sort be joined with 
a want and necessity in the mean people, the 
danger is imminent and great : for the rebel- 
lions of the belly are the worst. As for dis- 
contentments, they are in the politic body like 
to humours in the natural, which are apt to 
gather a preternatural heat and to inflame ; and 
let no prince measure the danger of them by 
this, whether they be just or unjust : for that 
were to imagine people to be too reasonable, 
who do often spurn at their own good ; nor 
yet by this, whether the griefs whereupon they 
rise be in fact great or small ; for they are the 
most dangerous discontentments where the 
fear is greater than the feeling : " Dolendi mo- 
dus, timendi non item ;" besides, in great op- 



AND TROUBLES. 59 

pressions, the same things that provoke the 
patience do withal meet tht: courage ; but in 
iears it is not so : neither let any prince, or 
state, be secure concerning discontentments 
because they have been often, or have been 
long, and yet no peril hath ensued : for as it is 
true that every vapour, or fume,, doth not turn 
into a storm, so it is nevertheless true, that 
storms, though they blow over divers times, yet 
may fall at last ; and, as the Spanish proverb 
noteth well, " The cord breaketh at the last 
by the weakest pull." 

The causes and motives of seditions arc, 
innovation in religion, taxes, alteration of laws 
and customs, breaking of privileges, general 
oppression, advancement of unworthy persons, 
strangers, deaths, disbanded soldiers, factions 
grown desperate ; and whatsoever in oiTending 
people joineth and knitteth them in a common 
cause. 

For the remedies, there may be some gen- 
eral preservatives, whereof we will speak : as 
for the just cure, it must answer to the partic- 
ular disease ; and so be left to counsel rather 
than rule. 

The first remedy, or prevention, is to re- 
move, by all means possible, that material 
cause of sedition whereof we speak, which 
is, want and poverty in the estate ; to which 
pui-pose serveth the opening and well balanc- 
ing of trade; the cherishing of manufactures; 
the banishing of idleness ; the repressing of 
waste and excess, bv sumptuan- laws ; the im- 



60 OF SEDITIONS 

provement and husbanding of the soil; the 
regulating of prices of things vendible ; the 
moderating of taxes and tributes, and the like. 
Generally, it is to be foreseen that the popula- 
tion of a kingdom (especially if it be not" 
mown down by wars) do not exceed the stock 
of the kingdom which should maintain them : 
neither is the population to be reckoned only 
by number ; for a smaller number that spend 
more and earn less, do wear out an estate 
sooner than a greater number that live low 
and gather more : therefore, the multiplying 
of nobility, and other degrees of quality, in 
an over-proportion to the common people, doth 
speedily bring a state to necessity ; and sa 
doth likewise an overgrown clergy, for they 
bring nothing to the stock; and in like jjif^n- 
ner, when more are bred scholars than pre- 
ferments can take off. 

It is likewise to be remembered that, foras- 
much as the increase of any estate must be up- 
on the foreigner, (for whatsoever is somewhere 
gotten is somewhere lost,) there be but three 
things which one nation seileth unto another ; 
the commodity as nature yieldeth it ; the man- 
ufacture ; and the vecture, or carriage ; so that, 
if these three v/heels go, wealth will flow as 
in a spring tide. And it cometh many times 
to pass, that " materiam superabit opus," that 
the work and carriage is -worth more than the 
material, and enricheth a state more ; as is no- 
tably seen in the Lov/ Country men, who have 
the bc^t mirtrs above frround i-i the world. 



AND TKOUBLES. Gf 

Above all things, good policy is to be used, 
that the treasure and moneys in a state be not 
gathered into few hands; for, otherwise, a 
state may have a great stock, and yet starve : 
and money is like muck, no good except it be 
spread. This is done chiefly by suppressing, 
or, at the least, keeping a strait hand upon the 
devouring trades of usury, engrossing, great 
pasturages, and the like. 

For removing discontentments, or, at least, 
the danger of them, there is in every state (as 
we know) two portions of subjects, the nobles 
and the commonalty. When one of these is 
discontent, the danger is not great ; for com- 
mon people are of slow motion, if they be not 
excited by the greater sort ; and the greater 
sort are of small strength, except the multi- 
tude be apt, and ready to move of themselves : 
then is the danger, when the greater sort 
do but wait for the troubling of the waters 
amongst the meaner, that then they may de- 
clare themselves. The poets feign that the 
rest of the gods would have bound Jupiter, 
which he hearing of, by the counsel of Pallas, 
sent for Briareus, with his hundred hands, to 
come in to his aid : an emblem, no doubt, to 
show how safe it is for monarchs to make sure 
of the good will of common people. 

To give moderate liberty for griefs and dis- 
contentments to evaporate (so it be without 
too great insolency or bravery) is a safe way : 
for he that turaeth the humours back, and 
maketh the wound bleed inwards, endan- 
6 



62 OF SEDITIONS 

gereth malign ulcers and pernicious imposthu- 
mations. 

The part of Epimetheus might well become 
Prometheus, in the case of discontentments, 
for there is not a better provision against them. 
Epimetheus, when griefs and evils Bew abroad, 
at last shut the lid, and kept hope in the bot- 
tom of the vessel. Certainly, the politic and 
artificial nourishing and entertaining of hopes, 
and carrying men from hopes to hopes, is one 
of the best antidotes against the poison of dis- 
contentments : and it is a certain sign of a 
wise government and proceeding, w^ien it can 
hold men's hearts by hopes, when it cannot 
by satisfaction ; and when it can handle things 
in such manner as no evil shall appear so per- 
emptory but that it hath some outlet of hope : 
which is the less hard to do, because both 
particular persons and factions are apt enough 
to flatter themselves, or, at least, to brave that 
which they believe not. 

Also the foresight and prevention, that there 
be no likely or fit head whereunto discontented 
persons may resort, and under v/hora they may 
join, is a known, but an excellent point of 
caution. I understand a fit head to be one 
that hath greatness and reputation, that hath 
confidence with the discontented party, and 
Yipon whom they turn their eyes, and that 
is thought discontented in his own particular ; 
which kind of persons are either to be won 
and reconciled to the state, and that in a fast 
and true manner ; o'* • he fronted with some 



f AND TROUBLES. 63 

' Other of the same party that may oppose them, 
and so divide the reputation. Generally, the 
dividing and breaking of all factions and com- 
binations that are adverse to the state, and set- 
ting them at a distance, or, at least, distrust 
among themselves, is not one of the worst 
remedies ; for it is a desperate case, if those 
that hold with the proceeding of the state be 
full of discord and faction, and those that are 
against it be entire and united. 

I have noted, that some witty and sharp 
speeches, which have fallen from princes, have 
given fire to seditions. Caesar did himself in- 
finite hurt in that speech, " Sylla nescivit lite- 
ras, non potuit dictare ;" for it did utterly cut 
off that hope which men had entertained, that 
he would at one time or other give over his 
dictatorship. Galba undid himself by that 
speech, " legi a se militem, non emi ;" for it 
put the soldiers out of hope of the donative .' 
Probus, likewise, by that speech, " si vixero, 
non opus erit amplius Romano imperio militi- 
bus ;" a speech of great despair for the sol-^ 
diers : and many the like. Surely princes had 
need, in tender matter and ticklish times, to 
beware what they say, especially in these 
short speeches, which fly abroad like darts, 
and are thought to be shot out of their secret 
intentions; for as for large discourses, they 
are flat things, and not so much noted. 

Lastly, let princes, against all events, not be 
without some great person, one, or rather more, 
ftf military valour, near unto them, for the re-' 



*84 or ATHEISM. 

pressing of seditions in their beginnings ; for 
without that, there useth to be more trepida- 
tion in court upon the first breaking out of 
trouble than were fit ; and the state runneth 
the danger of that wiiich Tacitus saith, " at- 
que is habitus animorum fuit, ut pessimum fa- 
cinus auderent pauci, plures vellent, omnes 
paterentur:" but let such military persons be 
assured, and well reputed of, rather than fac- 
tious and popular; holding also good corre- 
spondence ^vith the other great men in the 
state, or else the remedy is worse than the 
jdisease. 



OF ATHEISM. 



I HAD rather believe all the fables in the le- 
gend, and the Talmud, and the Alcoran, than 
that this universal frame is without a mind ; 
and, therefore, God never wrought miracles to 
convince atheism, because his ordinary works 
convince it. It is true, that a little philosophy 
inclineth man's mind to atheism, but depth in 
philosophy bringeth men's minds about to re- 
ligion ; for, while the mind of man looketh 
upon the second causes scattered, it may some- 
times rest in them, and go no farther ; but when 
it beholdeth the chain of them confederate, 
and linked together, it must needs fly to Prov- 
idence and Deity: nay, even that school, 
which is most accused of atheism, doth most 
demonstrate religion j that is, the school of 



4 



OF ATHEISM. 65 

Leucippus, and Democritus, and Epicurus : 
for it is a thousand times more credible, that 
four mutable elements and one immutable fifth 
essence, duly and eternally placed, need no 
God, than that an army of infinite small por- 
tions, or seeds unplaced, should have produced 
this order and beauty without a divine mar- 
shal. The scripture saith, "The fool hath 
said in his heart, There is no God ;" it is not 
said, "The fool hath thought in his heart;" so 
as he rather saith it by rote to himself, as that he 
would have, than that he can thoroughly be- 
lieve it, or be persuaded of it; for none deny 
there is a God but those for whom it maketh 
that there were no God. It appeareth in 
nothing more, that atheism is rather in the lip 
than in the heart of man, than by this, that 
atheists will ever be talking of that their opin- 
ion, as if they fainted in it within themselves, 
and would be glad to be strengthened by the 
opinion of others : nay, more, you shall have 
atheists strive to get disciples, as it fareth with 
other sects ; and, which is most of all, you shall 
have of them that will suffer for atheism, and 
not recant ; whereas, if they did truly think that 
there were no such thing as God, why should 
they trouble themselves ? Epicurus is charg- 
ed, that he did not dissemble for his credit's 
sake, when he affirmed there were blessed na- 
tures, but such as enjoyed themselves without 
having respect to the government of the world ; 
wherein they say he did temporize, though in 
secret he thought there was no God : but cer- 



66 OF ATHEIfeM- 

tainly he is Iradnced, for his words are noble 
and divine : " Nou Deos vulgi negare profa- 
liiim ; sed vulgi opiniones diis applicare profa- 
mim," Plato could have said no more ; and, 
although he had the confidence to deny the 
administration, he had not the povv er to deny 
the nature. The Indians of the west have 
names for their particular gods, though they 
have no name for God ; as if the heathens 
should have had the names Jupiter, Apollo, 
Mars, &c, but not the word Deus,_ which 
shovv'S, that even those barbarous people 
have the notion, though they have not the lat?- 
Itude and extent of it : so that against atheists 
the very savages take part with the very subtil- 
est pliiioscphers. The contemplative atheist 
is rare, a Diagoras, a Bion, a Lucian, perhaps, 
and some others ; and yet they seem to be more 
than they are; for that all that impugn a re- 
ceived religion, or superstition, are, by the ad- 
verse part, branded with the name of atheists : 
but the great atheists indeed are hypocrites, 
which are ever handling holy things, but v^ith- 
out feeling; so as they must needs be cau- 
terized in the end. The causes of atheism 
are, divisions in religion, if there be many; 
ibr any one main division addeth zeal to both 
sides, but many divisions introduce atheism : 
another is, scandal of pnests, when it is come 
to that which St. Bernard saith, "non est jam 
dicere, ut populus, sic sacerdos ; quia nee sie 
populus, ut sacerdos :'' a third is, a custom of 
profane scoinng in holy matters, which 4oth^ 



or ATi!Er^r,i. 67 

by little and litde, deface the reverence of re- 
ligion; and, lastly, learned times, especially 
with peace and prosperity; for trcfrib!:'s pj^d 
ttdversities do more bow men's minds to reli- 
gion. They that deny a God destroy a man's 
nobility; for certainly man is cf kin to the 
beasts by his body; and^ if he be not of kin 
to God by his spirit, he is a base and ignoble 
creature, it destroys, likevvise, magnanimity, 
■and the raising human nature ; for, take an er- 
ample of a dog, and mark what a generosity 
and courage he vvill put on rvhen he linds him- 
self maintained by a man, who to liim is instead 
of a God, or " melior natura ;" which courage 
is manifestly such as that creature, without 
that confidence of a better nature than his 
own, could never attain. So man, when he 
resteth and assureth himself upon divine pro-- 
tection and favour, gatliereth a force and faith, 
which human nature in itself could not ob- 
tain ; therefore, as atheism is in all respects 
haleial, so in ibis, thai it depriveth human nz- 
Hire of the means to exalt itself above human 
iVailty. As it is in particular persons, zo it is 
'in nations : ne\'er was there such a state for 
ina^j^nanimity as Rome : of this state hear 
wbat Cicero sfdth : '^ Qoam vclumus, licet, pa- 
tres conscripti, nos amemus, tamen nee nume- 
TO Hispanos, nee robore Gallos, nee cal'iditate 
Pcenos, nee artibus Grsscos, nee denique hoe 
ipso liujus gentis et terr© domestico nativoque 
^.osu Italos ipsos et Latinos; sed pie.ate, ae 



^8 OF SUPERSTITION. 

religione, atque hac Una sapientia, quod deo- 
rum immortaiitim numine omnia regi, guber- 
Uarique per speximus, omnes gentes nationes- 
que superavimus." 



OF SUPERSTITION. 

It were better to have no opinion of God at 
all than such an opinion as is unworthy of 
him ; for the one is unbelief, the other is con- 
tumely; and certainly superstition is the re- 
proach of the Deity. Plutarch saith well to 
that purpose : " Surely (saith he) I had rath- 
er a great deal men should say there was no 
such a man at all as Plutarch, than that they 
should say there was one Plutarch, that would 
eat his children as soon as they were born ;" 
as the poets speak of Saturn : and, as the con- 
tumely is greater towards God, so the danger 
is greater towards men. Atheism leaves a 
man to sense, to philosophy, to natural piety, 
to laws, to reputation : all which may be 
guides to an outward moral virtue, though re^ 
ligion were not; but superstition dismounts 
all these, and erecteth an absolute monarchy 
in the minds of men : therefore atheism did 
never perturb states : for it makes men wary 
of themselves, as looking no farther, and we 
see the times inclined to atheism (as the time ^ 
of Augustus Caesar) were civil times : but su- 
perstition hath been the confusion of many 



J 



OF SIPERSTITION. 69 

states, and bringeth in a new " primura mo- 
iHle," that ravisheth all the spheres of gov- 
.-erament. The master of superstition is the 
.people, and in all superstition wise men fol- 
low fools ; and arguments are fitted to prac- 
"tice in a reversed order. It was gravely sdd, 
hy some of the prelates in the council of 
Trent, where the doctrine of the schoolmen 
bare great sway, that the schoolmen were like 
astronomers; which did feign eccentrics and 
epicicies, and such engines of orbs, to save the 
phenomena, though they knew there vvere no 
,£uch things: and, in like manner, that the 
-schoolmen had framed a number of subtile and 
Intricate axioms and theorems, to scve the 
practice of the church. The ceaises of super- 
stition are pleasing and sensual rites and cere- 
monies ; excess of outward and pharisaical 
holiness; over-great reverence cf traditions^ 
r>'hich cannot but load the church ; the strata- 
gems of prelates for their own ambition and 
lucre ; the favouring too much of good inten- 
tions, which openeth the gate to conceits and 
novelties ; the taking an aim at divine mat- 
ters by human, which cannot but breed mix- 
ture of imaginations; and, lastly, barbarous 
times, especially joined with calamities and 
disasters. Superstition, v,athout a veil, is a 
deformed thing ; for, p.3 it addeth deformity to 
an ape to be so like a man, so the similitude 
of superstition to religion makes it the more 
deformed : and, as wholesome meat corrupteth 
tQ little worms, so good forms and crders CQr* 



70 or TRAT£L. 

tiipt into a number of petty observance& 
There is a superstition in avoiding supersti- 
tion, when men think to do best if they go 
fartliest from the superstition formerly receiv- 
ed; therefore care should be had that (as it j 
fareth in ill purgings) the good be not taken ; 
away witli the bad, which commonly is done ■ 
when the people is the reformer* 



OF TRAVEL. 



Travel, in the younger sort, is part of 
education ; in the elder, a part of experience. 
He that travelleth into a country, before he 
hath some entrance into the language, goeth 
to school, and not to travel. That young men 
travel under some tutor, or grave servant, I al- 
low well ; so that he be such a one that hath 
the language, and hath been in the country 
before ; whereby he may be able to tell them 
what things are worthy to be seen in the coun- 
try where they go, what acquaintances they 
are to seek, what exercises or discipline the 
place yieldeth ; for else young men shall go 
hooded, and look abroad little. It is a strange 
thing that, in sea voyages, where there is 
nothing to be seen but sky and sea, men 
should make diaries; but in land travel, 
wherein so much is to be observed, for the 
most part they omit it ; as if chance were fitter 
to be registered than observation : let diaries, 
therefore, be brought in use. The things to 



; , OF TUAVEL, 71 

be seen and observed are the courts of piiu- 
ees, especially when they give audience to 
ambassadors ; the courts of justice, while they 
sit and hear causes ; and so of consistories ec 
clesiastic; the churches and monasteries, with 
the monuments that are therein extant; the 
walls and fortifications of cities and towns; 
and so the havens and harbours, antiquities and 
ruins, libraries, colleges, disputations, and lec- 
tures, where any are ; shipping and navies ; 
houses and gardens of state and pleasure, near 
great cities; armories, arsenals, magazines, 
exchanges, burses, warehouses, exercises of 
horsemanship, fencing, training of soldiers, and 
the like; comedies, such whereunto the better 
sort of persons do resort; treasuries of jewels 
and robes ; cabinets and rarities ; and, to con- 
clude, whatsoever is memorable in the places 
vrhere they go ; after all which the tutors or 
servants ought to niake diligent inquiry. As 
for triumphs, masks, feasts, weddings, funerals, 
capital executions, and such shows, men need 
not be put in mind of them : yet they are not 
to be neglected. If you will have a young 
man to put his travel into a little room, and in 
short, time to gather much, this you must do : 
first, as was said, he must have some entrance 
into the language before he gocth ; then b^ 
must have such a servant, or tutor, as knowetii 
the country, as was likewise said: let him 
carry with him also some card, or book, de- 
scribing the couDtry ^vbere he travelletb, v,'hich 
will be a good key to his tnquu-y ; let him 



T2 Ojf TRAVEL, 

lieep also a diary; let him not stay long in 
one city or tov/n, more or less as the place de- 
serveth, hut not long; nay, when he stayeth 
in one city or town, let him change his lodg- 
ing from one end and part of the town to an- 
otheFj v/hicli is a great adamant of acquaint- 
ance ; let him sequester himself from the 
company of his countrymen, and diet in such 
places where there is good company of the 
nation where he travelleth : let him, upon his 
reinDves from one place to another, procure 
recommendation to some person of quality re- 
siding in the place whither he removethj that 
he may use his favour in those tilings he 
desireth to see or krioy*- : thus he may abridge 
his travel with much profit. As for the ac- 
quaintance which is to be sought in travel, 
that which li most of all profitable is acquaint- 
ance with the secretaries aT;d employed men 
of ambasisdorr; : lor so, in travelli::?g in one 
c ran try, lie shall suck the experience of many r 
let hlin also see and visit eminent persons in 
all kinds, Vihich are of great name abroad, 
that he may be able to tell how the life agxeetli 
with the fome. For quarrels, they are vrith 
care and discretion to be avoided; they are 
commonly for mistresses, healths, place, and 
words : and let a man beware how he keepeth 
company with choleric and quarrelsome per- 
sons, for tlicy will engage biro into their own 
quarrels. When a traveller returnclh home, 
let him not Icy.ve the connlrles where he hath 
travelled ^itrgether behind bin; bnt mc^intoio 



a correspondence by letters with those of his 
acquaintance which are of most worth ; and 
let his travel appear rather in his discourse 
than in his apparel or gesture ; and in his dis- 
course let him be rather advised in his an- 
swers than forward to tell stories : and let it 
appear that he doth not change his country- 
manners for those of foreign parts ; but only 
prick in some Howers of that he hath learned 
abroad into the customs of his ov.ai country. 



OF EMPIRE. 



It is a miserable state of sniid io have few 
things to desire, and many thii^g^; to fear ; and 
yet that commonly is the case wirli kingi^, who, 
being at the highest-, want mairer of desire, 

which mah.,: .'.".::_ '• vim^ laiiguisbing j 
aiid have tioHs of perils and 

shadows, Wmcii .-lo. .:; i:xcir uindi the less 
clear : and tliis is cue reason, aJso, of that ef- 
fect which the scr^nliire ppeaketb of, '^ that 
the king's heart h inscrutable :^' fir mnhitudc 
of jealousies, and lack of fccnie predoiniiiant 
desire, that should mar&lial and put in order all 
the rest, maketh any man's heart hard to find 
or sound. Hen:; k, :::.::";: !:ke-^-k;;, tkat prin- 
ces many times ■.::: : :k';;.:ok;: iy:v:z:. Lnd 
set their hearts I:..:.:. : :: . ::u:::::iz; upon a 
building ; -some Q^:: -y. : . ...z ::^e::D.g cf an 
crder: 5ometi";^- \. -■; ,- r-,u^'i-:-i;-(j! of a 



74 or KMf lay- 

person ; sometimes upon obtaining excellence J 
in some art, or feat of the hand ; as Nero, fori 
playing on the harp ; Domitian, for certainty of ^ 
the hand with the arrow ; Commodus, for 
playing at fence ; Caracalla, for driving chari- 
ots, and the like. This seemeth incredible 
unto those that know not the principle, that 
the mind of man is more cheered and re- 
freshed by profiting in small things than by 
standing at a stay in great. We see also 
that kings that have been fortnnate conquerors 
in their first years, it being not possible for 
them to go forward infinitely, but that they 
must have some check or arrest in their for- 
tunes, turn, in their latter years, to be supersti- 
tious and melancholy ; as did Alexander the 
Great, Dioclesian, and in our memory Charles 
the Fifth, and others : for he that is used to 
go forward, and findeth a stop, falleth out of 
his own favour, and is not the thing he v<;as. 

To speak now of the true temper of empire, 
it is a thing rare and hard to keep ; for both 
temper and distemper consist of contraries: 
but It is one thing to mingle contraries, anoth- 
er to interchange them. The answer of Apol- 
lonius to Vespasian is full of excellent instnic- 
tioa. Vespasian asked him, what was Nero^s 
overthrow. He answered, Nero could touch 
and tune the harp well, but in government 
sometimes he used to wind the pins too high, 
sometimes to let them down too low ; and cer- 
tain it 18^ that nothing destioyeth authority %q 



OP BMl»IftE. 7f 

miicli as the unequal and untimely interchange 
of power pressed too far, and relaxed too 
much. 

This is true, that the wisdom of all these 
latter times in princes' affairs, is rather fine 
I deliveries, and shiftings of dangers and mis- 
I chiefs, when they are near, than solid and 
I grounded courses to keep them aloof : but this 
I is but to try masteries with fortune ; and let 
men beware how^ they neglect and suifer mat- 
ter of trouble to be prepared ; for no man can 
forbid the spark, nor tell whence it may come^ 
The difficulties in princes' business are many 
and great ; but the greatest difficulty is often 
in their own mind; for it is common with 
princes (saith Tacitus) to will contradictories ; 
" Sunt plerumque regum voluntates vehemen- 
tes, et inter se contraria3;" for it is the sole- 
cism of power to think to command the end, 
and yet not to endure the means. 

Kings have to deal with their neighbours, 
their vaves, their children, their prelates or 
clergy, their nobles, their second nobles or gen- 
tlemen, their merchants, their commons, and 
their men of w^ar; and from all these arise 
dangers, if care and circumspection be not 
used. 

• First, for their neighbours, theiQ can no gen- 
eral rule be given, (the occasions are so vari- 
able,) save one, which ever holdeth ; which is, 
that princes do keep due sentinelj that none 
of their neighbours do overgrow so (by in- 
©rsase of territory, by en:ibracing of trade, by 



76 OF EMPIRE. 

approaches, or the like,) as they become more 
able to annoy them than they were ; and this 
is generally the work of standing counsels to 
foresee and to hinder it. During that triumvi- 
rate of kings, king Henry the Eighth, of Eng~ 
land, Francis the First, king of France, and 
Charles the Fifth, emperor, there was such a 
watch kept, that none of the three could win 
a palm of ground, but the other two would 
straightways balance it, either by confedera- 
tion, or, if need were, by war ; and would not 
in any wise take up peace at interest : and the 
like was done by that league (which Guicci- 
ardine saitli was the security of Italy) made 
between Ferdinando, king of Naples, Foren- ,, 
zius Medices, and Ludovicus Sforsa, poten- 
tates, the one of Florence, the other of Milan. \ 
Neither is the opinion of some of the school- 
men to be received, that a war cannot justly 
be made but upon a precedent injury or provo- 
cation ; for there is no question, but a just 
fear of an imminent danger, though there be 
no blow given, is a lawful cause of a war. 

For their wives, there are cruel examples of 
them. Livia is infamed for the poisoning of 
her husband ; Roxalana, Solyman's wife, was 
the destruction of that renowned prince. Sul- 
tan Mustapha, and otherv/ise troubled his 
house and succession ; Edward the Second of 
England's queen had the principal hand in the 
deposing and murder of her husband. This 
kind of danger is then to be feared chiefly 
when the wives have plots for the raising of 



1 



OF EMPIRE. 77 

th^ir own children, or else that they be advou- 
tresses. 

For their children, the tragedies likewise of 
dangers from them have been many ; and gen- 
erally the entering of the fathers into suspicion 
of their children hath been ever unfortunate. 
The destruction of Mustapha (that we named 
before) was so fatal to Solyman's line, as the 
succession of the Turks from Solyman until 
this day is suspected to be untrue, and of 
strange blood ; for that Selymus the Second 
was thought to be supposititious. The de- 
struction of Crispus, a youBg prince of rare 
towardness, by Constantinus the Great, his 
father, was in like manner fatal to his house, 
for hoth Constantinus and Constance, his sons, 
died violent deaths ; and Constantius, his oth- 
er son, did little better, w^ho died indeed of 
sickness, but after that Julianus had taken 
arms against him. The destruction of Deme- 
trius, son of Philip the Second of Macedon, 
turned upon the father, who died of repent- 
ance : and many like examples there are, but 
few or none where the fathers had good hy 
such distrust, except it were where the sons 
Vv'ere in open arms against tliern ; as was Sel- 
ymus the First against Bajazet, and the three 
sons of Henry the Second, king of England. 
For their prelates, when they are proud and 
great, there is also danger from them ;_ as it 
was in the times of Anselmus and Thomas 
Beckett, archbishops of Canterbury, who with 
their crosiers did almost try it with the king's 
7* . 



78 or Eiurmr. 

sword ; and yet they had to deal with stout 
and haughty kings, William Rufus, Henry the 
First, and Henry the Second. The danger is 
not from that state, but where it hath a depen- 
dence of foreign authority; or where the 
churchmen come in and are elected, not by 
tlie collation of the king, or particular patrons, 
but by the people. 

For their nobles, to keep them at a distance 
it is not amiss ; but to depress them may 
make a king more absolute, but less safe, and 
less able to perform any thing that he desires. 
I have noted it in my History of king Henry 
the Seventh, of England, who depressed his 
nobility, whereupon it came to pass that his 
times were full of difficulties and troubles ; for 
the nobility, though they continued loyal unto 
him, yet did they not cooperate with him in 
his business; so that in effect he was fain to 
do all things himself. 

For their second nobles, there is not much 
danger from them, being a body dispersed : 
they may sometimes discourse high, but that 
doth little hurt; besides, they are a counter- 
poise to the higher nobility, that they grow not 
too potent ; and, lastly, being the most imme- 
diate in authority with the common people, 
they do best temper popular commotions. 

For their merchants, they are " vena porta;" 
and if they flourish not, a kingdom may have 
good limbs, but will have empty veins, and 
nourish little. Taxes and imposts upon them 
do seldom good to the king's revenue, for that 



OF COUNSEL, 79 

which he wins in the hundred, he loseth in 
the shire ; the particular rates being increased, 
but the total bulk of trading rather decreased. 

For their commons, there is little danger 
from them, except it be where they have great 
and potent heads ; or where you meddle with 
the point of religion, or their customs, or 
means of life. 

For their men of war, it is a dangerous 
state where they live and remain in a body, 
and are used to donatives, whereof we see ex^ 
amples in the janizaries, and pretorian bands 
of Rome ; but trainings of men, and arming 
of them in several places, and under sevieral 
commanders, and without donatives, are things 
of defence and no danger. 

Princes are like to heavenly bodies, which 
sause good or evil times ; and which have 
much veneration, but no rest. All precepts 
concerning kings are in effect comprehended 
in those two remembrances, " memento quod 
Bs homo ;" and " memento quod es Deus, or 
I'ice Dei ;" the one bridleth their power, and 
:be other their will. 



OF COUNSEL, 



The greatest trust between man and man is 
the trust of giving counsel ; for in other con- 
fidences men commit the parts of life, their 
lands, their goods, their children, their credit, 
iome particular affair; but to such as they 



so OF COUNSEL. 

make their counsellors they commit the whole ! 
by how much the more they are obliged to all 
faith and integrity. The wisest princes need 
not think it any diminution to their greatness, 
or derogation to their sufficiency, to rely upon 
counsel. God himself is not without, but 
!iath made it one of the great names of his- 
>lessed Son, ''The Counsellor." Solomon- 
'lath pronounced, that " in counsel is stabil- 
ity." Things will have their first or second^ 
agitation : if they be not tossed upon the argu- 
ments of counsel, they will be tossed upon the 
waves of fortune, and be full of inconstancy, 
doingand undoing, like the reeling of a drunk- 
en man. Solomon's son found the force of 
counsel, as his father saw the necessity of it:^ 
for the beloved kingdom of God was fiirst rent 
and broken by ill counsel ; upon which coun- 
sel there are set for our instruction the two 
marks whereby bad counsel is for ever best' 
discerned, that it was young counsel for the i 
persons, and violent counsel for the matter. 

The ancient times do set forth in figure both 
the incorporation and inseparable conjunction ^ 
of counsel with kings, and the wise and poli- 
tic use of counsel by kings : the one, in that 
they say Jupiter did marry Metis, which sig- 
nifieth counsel : vv^hereby they intend that 
sovereignty is married to counsel : the other ; 
in that which followeth, which was thus : they J 
say, after Jupiter was married to Metis, she ^ 
conceived by him and was with child, but Ju- 
piter suffered her not to stay till she brought 



t 



OF COUNSEL. 



81 



I ,..,.,.. 

f 'himself with child, and was delivered of Pal- 
las armed out of his head. Which monstrous 
fable containeth a secret of empire, how kings 
are to make use of their council of state : that, 
first, they ought to refer matters unto them, 
vvliicli is the first begetting of impregnation : 
but when they are elaborate, moulded, and 
shaped in the womb of their council, and 
grow ripe and ready to be brought forth, that 
then they suiFer not their council to go through 
with the resolution and direction, as if it de- 
pended on them ; but take the matter back 
into their own hands, and make it appear to 
the world, that the decrees and final directions 
(which, because they com.e forth with pru- 
dence and power, are resembled to Pallas 
armed) proceeded from themselves ; and not 
ionly from their authority, but (the more to add 
reputation to themselves'^ from their head 
and device. 

Let us now speak of the inconveniences of 
counsel, and of the remedies. The inconve- 
niences that have been noted in calling and 
u&ing counsel, are three : first, the revealing 
of affairs, whereby they become less secret ; 
secoridly, the weakening of the authority of 
pririces, as if they were less of themselves ; 
ithirdly, the danger of being unfaithfully coun- 
Iselled, and more for the good of them that 
[counsel than of him that is counselled; for 
which inconveniences, the doctrine of Italy, and 
practice of France in some kings' times, hath 



8S OF COUNSEL. 

introduced cabinet councils ; a remedy worst 
than the disease. 

As to secrecy, princes are not bound to 
communicate all matters with all counsellors, 
but may extract and select ; neither is it ne- 
cessary, that he that consulteth what he should 
do should declare what he will do ; but let 
princes beware that the unsecreting of tiieir 
affairs comes not from themselves : and, as for 
cabinet councils, it may be their motto, " ple- 
nus rimarum sum :" one futile person, that 
maketh it his glory to tell, will do more hurt 
than many that know it their duty to conceal. 
It is true there be some affairs which require 
extreme secrecy, which will hardly go beyond 
one or two persons beside the king : neither 
are those counsels unprosperous ; for, besides 
the secrecy, they commonly go on constantly 
in one spirit of direction without distraction : 
but then it must be a prudent king, such as is 
able to grind with a hand-mill ; and those in- 
ward counsellors had need also be wise men, 
and especially true and trusty to the king's 
ends ; as it was with king Henry the Seventh 
of England, who in his greatest business im- 
parted himself to none, except it were to Mor- 
ton and Fox. 

For weakness of authority the fable show- 
eth the remedy : nay, the majesty of kings is 
rather exalted than diminished when they are 
in the chair of council : neither was there ev- 
er prince bereaved of his dependencies by his 
couDcil except where there hath been either 



or COUNSEL. SS 

an orergreatness in one counsellor, or an over- 
strict combination in divers, which are things 
soon found and holpen. 

For the last inconvenience, that men will 
counsel with an eye to themselves ; certainly, 
" non inveniet fidem super terram," is meant 
of the nature of times, and not of all particu- 
lar persons. There be that are in nature faith- 
ful and sincere, and plain and direct, not crafty 
and involved : let princes, above all, draw to 
themselves such natuies. Besides, counsel- 
lors are not commonly so united, but that one 
counsellor keepeth sentinel over another ; so 
that if any counsel out of faction or private 
ends, it commonly comes to the king's ear : 
but the best remedy is, if princes know their 
counsellors, as well as their counsellors know 
them, 

" Principis est virtus maxima nos?e saos." 

And, on the other side, counsellors should not 
be too speculative into their sovereign's per- 
son. The true composition of a counsellor is, 
rather to be skilful in his master's business 
than in his nature ; for then he is like to ad- 
vise him, and not to feed his humour. It is 
of singular use to princes if they take the 
opinions of their coimcii both separately and 
together ; for private opinion is more free, but 
opinion before others is more reverend. In 
private, men are more bold in their own hu- 
mours ; and in consort, men are more obnox- 
ious to others' humours ; therefore it is good to 



S4 OF COUNSEL. ' 

take both, and of the inferior sort rather in , 
private, to preserve freedom ; of the greater, j 
rather in consort, to preserve respect. It is in .: 
vain for princes to take counsel concerning j 
matters, if they take no counsel likewise con- i 
earning persons ; for all matters are as dead | 
images; and the life of the execution of af- 
fairs resteth in the good choice of person's .•; 
neither is it enough to consult concerning 
persons, " secundum genera," as in an idea of 
mathematical description, v/hat the kind and 
character of the person should be ; for the 
greatest errors are committed, and the most 
judgment is shown, in the choice of individu- 
als. It was truly said, " optimi consiliarii 
mortui :" " books will speak plain when coun- 
sellors blanch ;" therefore it is good to be con-» 
versant in them, especially the books of such 
as themselves have been actors upon the 
stage. 

The councils at this day in most places are 
but familiar meetings, where matters are rath- 
er talked on than debated ; and they run too 
swift to the order or act of council. It were 
better that in causes of weight the matter 
were propounded one day, and not spokefti to 
till next day; "in nocte consilium:" so was 
it done in the commission of union between 
England and Scot and, which was a grave and' 
orderly assembly. I commend set days for 
petitions: for bot. it gives the smto?s more 
certainty for thei;- attendance, and it frees 
the meetings for riiatters of estate, that thev 



or COUNSEL. '€'5 

may " hoc agere." In choice of committees 
for ripening business for the council, it is bet- 
ter to choose indifferent persons than to make 
aii indifferency by putting in those that are 
strong on both sides. I commend, also, stand- 
ing commissions ; as for trade, for treasure, for 
war, for suits, for some provinces ; for where 
^there be divers particular councils, and but one 
council of estate, (as it is in Spain,) they are, 
in effect, no more than standing commissions, 
save that they have greater authority. Let 
such as are to inform councils out of their par- 
ticular professions, (as lawyers, seamen, mint- 
men, and the like,) be first heard before com- 
mittees ; and then, as occasion serves, before 
the council ; and let them not come in multi- 
tudes, or in a tribunitious manner ; for that is 
to clamour councils, not to inform them. A 
long table and a square table, or seats about 
the walls, seem things of form, but are things 
of substance ; for at a long table, a few at the 
upper end, in efiect, sway all the business ; 
but in the other form there is more use of the 
counsellors' opinions that sit lower. A king, 
when he presides in council, let him beware 
how he opens his own inclination too much in 
that which he propoundeth ; for else coun- 
sellors will but take the wind of him, and, in- 
stead of giving free co^ nsel, will sing him a 
song of " placebo." 
8 



OF DELAYS. 



OF DELAYS. 



Fortune is like the market, where, many 
times, if you can stay a little, the price will 
fall ; and, again, it is sometimes like Sibylla's 
offer, which at first offereth the commodity at 
full, then consumeth part and part, and still 
holdeth up the price ; for occasion (as it is in 
the common verse) tmneth a bald noddle after 
she hath presented her locks in front, and no 
hold taken; or, at least, turneth the handle of 
the bottle first to be received, and after the 
belly, which is hard to clasp. There is sure- 
ly no greater wisdom than well to time the 
beginnings and onsets of things. Dangers 
are no more light, if they once seem light ; 
and more dangers have deceived men than 
forced them : nay, it v»^ere better to meet some 
dangers half way, though they come nothing 
near, than to keep too long a watch upon their 
approaches ; for if a man watch too long, it is 
odds he will fall asleep. On the other side, 
to be deceived vAih too long shadows, (as some 
have been when the moon was low, and shone 
on their enemies' back,) and so to shoot off 
before the time ; or to teach dangers to come 
on by over-early buckling towards them, is an- 
ivjicv extreme. The ripeness or unripeness of 
the occasion (us v.-e said) must ever be well 
weighed ; and generally it is good to commit 
the beginnings of all great actions to Argos 
with his hundred eyes, and the ends to Bria- 



OF CUXiXING. 87 

reus with his hundred hands ; first to watch, 
and then to speed ; for the helmet of Pluto, 
which maketh the politic man go invisible, is 
secrecy in the council, and celerity in the exe- 
cution ; for when things are once come to the 
execution, there is no secrecy comparable to 
celerity ; like the motion of a bullet in the 
air, which flieth so sv/ift as it outruns the eye. 



OF CUNNING. 



We take cunning for a sinister or crooked 
wisdom; and certainly there is a great difference 
between a cunning man and a wise man, not 
only in point of honesty, but in point of abil- 
ity. There be that can pack the cards, and 
yet cannot play well ; so there are some that 
are good in canvasses and factions, that are 
otherwise weak men. Again, it is one thing 
to understand persons, and another thing to 
imderstand matters; for many are perfect in 
men's humours, that are not greatly capable of 
the real part of business, which is the consti- 
tution of one that hath studied men more than 
books. Such men are fitter for practice than 
for counsel, and they are good but in their own 
alley : turn them to new men, and they have 
lost their aim : so as the old rule, to know a 
fool from a wise man, " Mitte ambos nudos ad 
ignotos, et vie*- bis," doth scarce hold for them; 
andj because these cunning men are like hab- 



88 OF CUNNING. 

erdasiiers of small wares, it is not amiss to set 
forth their shop. 

It is a point of cunning to wait upon him 
with whom you speak with your eye, as the 
Jesuits give it in precept ; for there be many 
wise men that have secret hearts and transpa- 
rent countenances : yet this would be done 
ivith a demure abasing of your eye sometimes, 
as the Jesuits also do use. 

Another is, that when you have any thing 
to obtain of present despatch, you entertain 
and amuse the party with whom you deal with 
some other discourse, that he be not too much 
awake to make objections. I knew a coun- 
sellor and secretary, that never came to queen 
Elizabeth of England with bills to sign, but 
he would always first put her into some dis- 
course of state, that she might the less mind 
the bills. 

The like surprise may be made by moving 
things when the party is in haste, and cannot 
stay to consider advisedly of that is moved. 

If a man would cross a business that he 
doubts some other would handsomely and ef- 
fectually move, let him pretend to wish it 
well, and move it himself, in such sort as may 
soil it. 

The breaking off in the midst of that one 
w^as about to say, as if he took himself up, 
breeds a greater appetite in him, with whom 
you confer, to know more. 

And because it works better when any thing 
geeraeth to be gotten from you by question, 



OF CUNNING. 89 

flian if you oifer it of yourself, 7011 may lay a 
bait for a question, by showing another visage 
and countenance than you are wont ; to the 
end, to give occasion for the party to ask what 
the matter is of the change, as Nehemiah did, 
" And I had not before tha.t time been sad be- 
fore the king." 

In things that are tender and unpleasing, it 
is good to break the ice by some v/hose words 
are of less weight, and to reserve the more 
weighty voice to come in as by chance, so 
that he may be asked the question upon the 
other's speech; as Narcissus did, in relating 
to Claudius the marriage of Messalina and 
Silius. 

In things that a man would not be seen in 
himself, it is a point of cunning to borrow 
the name of the w^orld ; as to say, " The 
world says," or, " There is a speech abroad." 

I knew one that, when he wrote a letter, 
lie would put that w^hicji was most material 
in the postscript, as if it had been a by mat- 
ter. 

I knew another that, when he came to have 
speech, he Vv'ould pass over that that he in- 
tended most; and go forth and come back 
agaiii, and speak of it as a thing he had al- 
most forgot. 

Some procure themseb'es to be surprised at 
such times as it is like tlie party that they 
work upon will suddenly come upon them, 
and be found with a letter in their hand, or 
doing somewhat w^hich they are not accustom- 



9l» Of CUNNING. 

ed, to the end they may be opposed of those 
things which of themselves they are desirous 
to utter. 

It is a point of cunning, to let fall those 
words in a man's own name, which he would 
have another man learn and use, and tliere-r 
upon take advantage. I knew two that were 
competitors for the secretary's place, in queen 
Elizabeth's time, and yet kept good quarter 
between themselves, and would confer one 
with another upon the business ; and the one 
of them said, that to be a secretary in the de- 
clination of a monarchy was a ticklish thing, 
and that he did not affect it ; the other straight 
caught up those words, and discoursed with 
divers of his friends, that he had no reason to 
desire to be secretary in the declining of a mon-; 
archy. The first man took hold of it, and 
found means it was told the queen ; who, 
hearing of a declination of monarchy, took it 
so ill, as she would never after hear of the 
other's suit. 

There is a cunning, which we in England 
call "The turning of the cat in the pan;" 
which is, when that which a man says to an-? 
other, he lays it as if another had said it 
to him ; and, to say truth, it is not easy when 
such a matter passed between two, to make it 
appear from which of them it first moved and 
began. 

It is a way that some men have, to glance 
and dart at others by justifying themselves by 
negatives; as to say, "This I do not;" as 



or clnmng. 91 

Tigelliuus did towards Burrhus, ^' se nou di- 
versas spes, sed iucolumitatein imperatoris 
sinipliciter spectare." 

Some have in readiness so many tales and 
storieSj as there is nothing they would insinuate, 
but they can wrap it into a tale ; which serv- 
eth both to keep themselves more on guard, 
and to make others carry it with more pleas- 
ure. 

It is a good point of cunning for a man to 
shape the answer he would have in his ov/n 
words and propositions ; for it makes the other 
party stick the less. 

It is strange how long some men will lie in 
wait to speak somewhat they desire to say ; 
and how far about they will fetch, and how 
many other matters they will beat over, to come 
near it : it is a thing of great patience, but yet 
of much use. 

A sudden, bold, and unexpected question 
doth many times surprise a man, and lay him 
open. Like to him, that, having changed his 
name, and walking in Paul's, another sud- 
denly came behind him, and called him by his 
true name, whereat straightways he looked 
back. 

But these small wares and petty points of 
cunning are infinite, and it were a good deed 
to make a list of them ; for that nothing doth 
more hurt in a state than that cunning men 
pass for wise. 

But certainly some there are that know the 
r<?!5ort9 and falls of business, that cannot sink 



9'2 OF WISDOM FOR A MAN^S SELF. 

into the main of it ; like a house that hath 
convenient stairs and entries, but never a fair 
room : therefore you shall see them find out 
pretty looses in the conclusion, but are no 
ways able to examine or debate matters ; and' 
yet commonly they take advantage of their in- 
ability, and would be thought wits of direc- 
tion. Some build rather upon the abusing of 
others, and (as we now say) putting tricks 
upon them, than upon the soundness of their 
own proceedings : but Solomon saith, " Pru- 
dens advertit ad gressus suos : stultus divertit 
ad doles." 



OF WISDOM FOR A MAN'S SELF. 

An ant is a wise creature for itself, but it is 
a shrewd thing in an orchard or garden ; and 
certainly men that are great lovers of them- 
selves waste the public. Divide with reason 
between self-love and society ; and be so true 
to thyself, as thou be not false to others, espe- 
cially to thy king and country. It is a poor 
centre of a man's actions, himself. It is right 
earth ; for that only stands fast upon his own 
centre ; whereas, all things that have affinity 
with the heavens move upon the centre of an-» 
other, which they benefit. The referring of 
all to a man's self is more tolerable in a sove- 
reign prince, because themselves are not only 
themselves, but their good and evil is at the 
peril of the public fortune : but it is a despe- 



OF WISDOM FOR A MAN's SELF. 9S" 

rate evil in a servant to a prince, or a citizen 
in a republic ; for whatsoever affairs pass such 
a man's hands, he crooketh them to his own 
ends ; which must needs be often eccentric to 
the ends of his master or state : therefore let 
princes or states choose such senants as have 
not this mark ; except they mean their service 
should be made but the accessary. That 
V, hich maketh the effect more pernicious is, 
that all proportion is lost ; it were dispropor- 
tion enough for the servant's good to be pre- 
ferred before the master's; but yet it is a 
greeiter extreme, when a little good of the 
servant shall carry things against the great 
good of the master's : and yet that is the case 
of bad cfScers, treasurers, ambassadors, gener- 
als, and other false and corrupt servants ; which 
set a bias upon their bov» 1, of their own petty 
ends and envies, to the overthrow^ of their 
master's great and important affairs : and, for 
the most part, the good such servants receive 
is after the model of their own fortune ; but 
the hurt they sell for that good is after the 
model of their master's fortune : and certainly 
it is the nature of extreme self-lovers, as they 
will set a house on fire, and it were but to 
roast their eggs ; and yet these men many 
times hold credit with their masters, because 
their study is but to please them and profit 
themselves ; and for either respect they will 
abandon the good of their affairs. 

Wisdom for a man's self is, in many bran- 
ches thereof a depraved thing : it is the v^ii^ 



94 OF INNOVATIONS. 

dom of rats^ tliat will be sure to leave a house 
sometime before it fall : it is the wisdom of 
the fox, that thrusts out the badger who dig- 
ged and made room for him : it is the wis- 
dom of crocodiles, that shed tears when they 
would devour. But that which is specially to 
be noted is, that those which (as Cicero says 
of Pompey) are " sui amante, sine rivali," 
are many times unfortunate ; and whereas they 
have all their time sacrificed to themselves, 
they become in the end themselves sacrifices 
to the inconstancy of fortune, whose wings they 
thought by their self- wisdom to have pinioned. 



OF INx%^OVATIONS. 

As the births of living creatures at first are 
ill shapen, so are all innovations, which are 
the births of time; yet notwithstanding, as 
those that first bring honour into their family 
are commonly more worthy than most that 
succeed, so the first precedent (if it be good) 
is seldom attained by imitation ; for ill to man's 
nature, as it stands perverted, hath a natural 
motion strongest in continuance ; but good, as 
a forced motion, strongest at first. Surely ev- 
ery medicine is an innovation, and he that will 
not apply new remedies must expect new 
evils ; for time is the greatest innovator ; and 
if time of course alter things to the worse, and 
wisdom and counsel shall not alter them to the 
better^ what shall be the end ? It is true, that 



OF INNOVA'iiONS. 95 

what is settled by custom, though it be not 
good, yet at least it is fit ; and those things 
which have long gone together are, as it were, 
confederate within themselves ; whereas new 
things piece not so well ; but, though they 
help by their utility, yet they trouble by their 
inconformity : besides, they are like strangers, 
more admired, and less favoured. All this is 
■true, if time stood still ; which, contrariwise 
moveth so round, that a froward retention oi 
<;ustom is as turbulent a thing as an innova- 
tion ; and they that reverence too much old 
times are but a scorn to the new. It were 
good, therefore, that men, in their innovations, 
would follow the example of time itself, which 
indeed innovateth greatly, but quietly, and by 
degrees scarce to be perceived ; for otherwise, 
whatsoever is new is unlocked for ; and ever 
it mends some, and pairs others ; and he that 
is holpen takes it for a fortune, and thanks the 
time ; and he that is hurt, for a wrong, and 
imputeth it to the author. It is good also not 
to try experiments in states, except the neces- 
sity be urgent, or the utility evident ; and well 
to beware that it be the reformation that draw- 
eth on the change, and not the desire of 
change that pretendeth the reformation : and, 
lastly, that the novelty, though it be not re- 
jected, yet be held for a suspect ; and, as the 
scripture saith, " That we make a stand upon 
the ancient v/ay, and then look about us, and 
discover what is the straiglit and right way, 
and so to walk in iV 




0(i 



OF DESPATCH. 

Affected despatch is one of the most dan^j 
gerous tilings to business that can be : it is. 
like that which the physicians call prediges-' 
tion, or hasty digestion ; which is sure to fill: 
the body full of crudities, and secret seeds of 
diseases : therefore measure not despatch by 
the time of sitting, but by the advancement of 
the business : and as, in races, it is not the large 
stride, or high lift, that makes the speed ; so, 
in business, the keeping close to the matter, 
and not taking of it too much at once, piocur- 
eth despatch. It is the care of some only ta 
come off speedily for the time, or to contrive 
some false periods of business, because they 
may seem men of despatch : but it is one 
thing to abbreviate by contracting, another by 
cutting off; and business so handled at several 
sittings, or meetings, goeth commonly back- 
ward and forward in an unsteady manner. I 
knew a wise man, that had it for a by-word, 
when he saw men hasten to a conclusion, 
" Stay a little, that we may make an end the 
sooner." 

On the other side, true despatch is a rich 
thing ; for time is the measure of business, as 
money is of vares ; and business is bought at 
a dear hand where there is small despatch. 
The Spartans and Spaniards have been noted 
to be of small despatch : " Mi venga la muerte 
de Spagna ;" — " Let my deat/i come from 



jfc 



Spain," for then it will be sure to be long in 
coming. 
j,! Give good heariog to those that give the 

I first information in business, and rather direct 
them in the beginning than interrupt tliem in 
the continua-ice of their speeches ; for he that 
is put out of his own order will go forward 
and backward, and be more tedious while he 
waits upon his memory, than he could have 
been if he had gone on in his own course ; 
but sometimes it is seen tliat the moderator is 
more troublesome than the actor. 

Iterations are commonly loss of time ; but 
there is no such gain of time as to iterate of- 
ten the state of the question j for it chaseth 
away many a frivolous speech as it is coming 
forth. Long and curious speeches are as lit 
for despatch as a robe, or mantle, "with a long 
train, is for a race. Prefaces, and passages, 
and excusations, and other speeches of refer- 
ence to the person, are great wastes of time ; 
and, though they seem to proceed of modesty, 
they are bravery. Yet beware of being too 
caaterial when there is any impediment^ or ob- 
struction, in men's w^ills ; for pre-occupation 
of mind ever requireth preface of speech, like 
a fomentation to make the unguent enter. 

Above ail things, order and distribution, and 
singling out of parts, is the life of despatch ; 
\i so as the distribution be not too subtile : for 
he that doth not divide will never enter well 
into business ; and he that di^adeih too much 
v:\i\ never come out of it elearlr. To choose 
9 



&5 OF see:\iing witfE. 

time is to save time ; and an uuseasonable mo- 
tion is but beating the air. There be three 
parts of business ; the preparation ; the debate 
or examination ; and the perfection ; whereof, 
if you look for despatch, let the middle only 
be the work of many, and the first and last 
the work of few* The proceeding upon some- 
Avhat conceived in writing doth, for the most 
part, facilitate despatch : for though it should 
be wholly rejected, yet that negative is more 
pregnant of direction than an indefinite, as 
ashes are more generative than dust. 



OF SEEMING WISE. 

It hath been an opinion, that the Frenclr 
are wiser than they seem, and the Spaniards 
seem wiser than tlicy are : but, hov/soever it 
be between nations, certainly it is so between 
Bjan and man ; for, as the apostle saith of god- 
liness, '• having a shov^^ of godliness, but de- 
nying the power thereof;" so certainly there 
are in points of wisdom and suiticiency, that 
do nothing or little very saleinnly : " magno 
conatu iiiigas.'' It is a ridiculous thiog, and 
fit for a satire to persons of judgment, to see 
''vhat shifts these formalists have, and v;h.at 
prospectives to make supemces to seem, body 
~i-hu hath depth and bulk, Soais-sre so close' 
and reserved, as they will not el^ow- their, 
ivtares but by a dark light snd !:8«m= alwsT^ i& 



OF DEEMING WISE. &3 

•keep back somewhat; and, when they know 
within themselves they speak of that they do 
not well know, would nevertheless seem to oth- 
ers to know of that which they may not well 
speak. Some help themselves with counter 
nance and gesture, and are wise by signs ; as 
Cicero saith of Piso, that when he answered 
him he fetched one of his brows .up to his fore- 
head, and bent the other down to his chin ; 
*■' respondes, altero ad frontem snblato, altero ad 
.mentum depresso supercilio, criideliiatem tibi 
Don placere." Some think to bear it by speak- 
ing a great word, and being peremptory ; and go 
on, and take by admittance that w4iich they 
cannot make good. Some, whatsoever is ber 
yond their reach, will seem to despise, or make 
light of it, as impertinent or cnrious : and so 
would have their ignorance seem judgment. 
Some are never without a differeace, and com- 
monly, by amusing men with a siibtilty, blanch 
the matter; of whom A. Gellius saith, "ho- 
lainem delirium, qui verborum, minutiis reriim 
frangit pondera." Of v/hich kind also Plato, 
in his Protagoras, bringeth in Prodicus in 
scorn, and niaketh him miake a speech that 
consisteth of distinctions from the beginning 
to the end. Generally such men, in all delib- 
era-tions, find ease to be of the negative side, 
and affect a credit to object and foretell difhcnl- 
ties ; for v/hen propositions are denied, there 
■is an end of them ; but ii they be allowed, it 
requireth a new work ; which false point of 
(Tfisdom 13 the bane of business. To eonchide, 



lOO (yV FfiIENl>SLBJafe. 

there is no decaying merchant, or inward h«^ 
gar, hath so many tricks to uphold the credit 
of their wealth, as these empty persons have 
to maintain the credit of their sufficiency. 
Seeming wise men may make shift to get 
opinion ; but let no man choose them for em- 
ployment ; for, certainly, you were better take 
for business a man somewhat surd than over- 
formal. 



OF FRIENDSHIP. 

It had been hard for him that spake it ta 
have put more truth and untruth together ia 
few words than in that speech, *' \Yhosoever 
is delighted in solitude is either a wild beast 
or a god:" for it is most true, that a natural 
and secret hatred and aversion towards society 
in any m,an hath somev/hat of the savage 
beast ; but it is most untme, that it should 
have any character at ail of the divine nature, 
except it proceed, not out of a pleasure in sol- 
itude, but out of a love and desire to sequester 
a man's self for a higher conversation : such 
as is found to have been falsely and feignedly 
in some of the heathens ; as Epimenides, the 
Candian ; Numa, the Roman ; Empedocles, 
the Sicilian; and Apollonius of Tyana; and 
truly and really in divers of the ancient her- 
mits and holy fathers of the church. But lit- 
tle do men perceive what solitude is, and how 
fax it extendeth ; for a crowd is not compaayv 



G? FRIENDaHIF. lOl 

■ucd faces are but a gallery of pictures, and 
talk but a tinkling cymbal where there is no 
■ love. The Latin adage meeteth with it a 
little; "magna civitas, magna solitude;" be- 
cause in a great town friends are scattered, so 
that there is not that fellowship, for the most 
part, which is in less neighbourhoods : but we 
may go farther, and affirm most truly, that it is 
a mere and miserable solitude to want true 
friends, without which the world is but a wil- 
derness ; and even in this scene also of soli- 
tude, whosoever in the frame of his nature and 
RfFectious is unfit for friendship, he taketh it 
of the beast, and not from humanity. 

A principal fruit of friendship is the ease 
and discharge of the fulness of the heart, 
which passions of all kinds do cause and in- 
duce. We know diseases of stoppings and 
suilocations are the most dangerous in the 
body; and it is not much otherv/ise in the 
mind ; you may take sarza to open the liver, 
steel to open the spleen, flower of sulphur for 
the lungs, castoreum for the brain ; but no re- 
ceipt openeth the heart but a true friend, to 
whom you may impart griefs, joys, fears, hopes, 
suspicions, counsels, and whatsoever lieth upon 
the heart to oppress it, in a kind of civil shrift 
or confession. 

It is a strange thing to observe how high a 

. rate great kings and monarchs do set upon 

this fruit of friendship whereof we speak : so 

great, as they purchase it many times at the 

•hazard of their ovrn safety and greatne,s3 : for 



1&2 OK FmBNDSBiP. 

•princes, in regard of tlie distance of ttieii- foiF- 
tune from that of their subjects and servants, 
cannot gather this fruit except (to make them- 
selves capable thereof ) they raise some per- 
sons to be as it were companions, and almost 
equals to themselves, v/hich many times soil- 
eth to inconvenience. The modem languages 
give unto such persons the name of favourites, 
or privadoes, as if it were matter of grace, or 
conversation ; but the Roman name attaineth 
the true use and cause thereof, naming them 
" participes curanmi ;" for it is that which 
tieth the knot : and we see plainly that this 
hath been done, not by weak and passionate 
princes only, but by the wisest and most poli- 
tic that ever reigned, who have oftentimes 
joined to themselves some of their servants, 
whom both themselves have called friends, 
and allowed others likewise to call them in the 
same manner, using the %vord which is receiv- 
ed between private men. 

L. Sylla, when he commanded Rome) raised 
Pompey (after surnamed the Great) to that 
height, that Pompey vaunted himself for Syl- 
la's overmatch ; for, v/hen he had carried the 
€onsnlship for a friend of his, against the pur- 
suit of Sylla, and that Sylla did a little resent 
thereat, and began to speak great, Pompey 
turned upon him again, and in effect bade him 
be quiet ; for that more men adored the sun 
rising than the sun setting. With Julins Cse- 
sar, Decimus Brutus had obtained that interest, 
#« ^e set him down in his tesliaiw^nt for b^k 



'ijaoL Hmah^kdtv after hh nepiiew; cu'id ihk 
f^m tbfe tean tfoit had power with blm tu 
draw him forth to his death : for when C'^~ 
sar v/ould have discharged the senate, in 
regard of seme ill presages, and speciail)- 
a dream of Galpiirniay this men lified him 
gently by the arm out of his chair, telling him 
he hoped he would not dismiss the senate till 
his wife had dreamed a belter dream ; and it 
seemed his favour was so great as Actoui-us, ia 
a letter which is recited verbatim ia one of 
Cicero's Philippics, called him '' vcnefxa,''— - 
" witch ;" as if he bad enchanted Cixsar. 
Augustus raised Agrippa (thoi:gh cf mGOii 
"birth) to that height, as, when he consulted 
•with Maeeeaas about the marriage of his 
daughter Julia, Mscenas took the liberty to 
tell hiiD, that he mlist either marry Ids do.iigh- 
ter to Agrippa, or take away liis life : thert^ 
tvas DO third way, he bad made him so great 
With Tiberius Csiar, Seian^is had ascen^ied to 
that height, as they two were termed and reck- 
oned as a pair of friends. Tiberius, in a let- 
ter to him, saith, ^^ hfec pro amicitia nostra noa 
occxiltaW;" and the tvliole senate dedicated 
sn altar to Friendship, as to a goddess, ia re- 
spect of the great dearncss of fiiendsliip be- 
tween tliera two. The like, or more, was be- 
tween Septimiiis Sevems and Piaiitianiis ; for 
h^ forced his eldest son to marrf the daughter 
<df Plautiantis, and would often maintaiD Plau- 
tiimtis in doing sprouts to his son : and did 
•1*rit6, ^m, in a lett^eT to the senate, b? thef^e 



^O'i OF rSIENDSHI?. 

ivords : " I love the man so well as I wish 
be may overlive mc." Now, if these princes 
imd been as a Trajan, cr a Marcus Aurelius, si 
man might have thought that this had proceed- 
ed of an abundant goodness of nature ; hut 
being men so wise, of such strength and se- 
verity of mind, and so extreme lovers of them- 
Gelves, as all these Vv'-ere, it proveth, most 
plainly, that they found their own felicity 
(though as great as ever happened to mortal 
men) but as an halfpiece, except they might 
have a friend to make it entire ; and yet, 
v/hich is more, they were princes that had 
v/ives, sons, nephews : yet all these could not 
supply the comfort of friendship. 

It is not to be forgo tlcn what Comineus ob» 
serveth of his iirst master, Duke Charles the 
Hardy, namely, that he would communicate 
his secrets with none ; and, least of all, those 
secrets which troubled him most. Whereupon 
he goeth on, and saltb, that, towards his lattef 
tirae, that closeness did impair and a little 
perish his understanding. Surely Comineus 
might have made the same judgment also, if 
it had pleased him, of his second master, 
Lewis the Eleventh, whose closeness v/as in- 
deed his tormentor. The parable of Pythag- 
oras is dark, but true, " cor ne edito,'^ — 
" eat not the heart." Certainly, if a man 
would give it a hard phrase, those that want 
friends to open themselves unto are cannibals 
of their own hearts ; but one thing is most 
•admirabk, (wherewith I will conclude this 



«8? ^TSKl^Hm liX$ 

tot fruit of fnendship,} wbieii is, tb.at thb 
<Jommimicatiiig of a inan's self to his friend 
fvorks to contrary effects^ for It redoubleth 
joys and cuttetk griefs in halve-3 ; for there i$ 
no man that impaiteth his joys to his frieadj 
but he joyeth the more ; and no man that ira- 
parteth his griefs to his friend, but he grieve f^ 
the less. So that it isj in trath, of operation 
Upon a man's mind^ of like virtue as the al- 
chymists use to attribute to their stone foi' 
man's body, that it worlieth all contrary eifects^ 
but still to the good and b<?nefit of nature : 
but yet, without praying in aid of alchymists, 
there is a manifest in^age of this in the crtii- 
nary coiirse of nature ; for, ia bcdieSj unicn 
iBtrengthenetli and cherisheth any natural ac- 
tion; and, on the other side, weakeneth and 
•dulleth any vioient impression ; und even so i^ 
it of minds. 

The second fruit of fnendship is healthful 
:and sovereign for the understanding, as the 
£rst is for the affections ; for friendship maketh 
indeed a fair day in the aiTections from storm 
land tempests, but it maketh daylight in the 
understanding, out of darkness and confusion 
"Of thoughts: neither is this to be understood 
only of faithful counsel, which a man receiveth 
from his friend ; but before you come to that, 
certain it is, that whosoever hath his mind 
fraught with many thoughts, his wits and un- 
derstanding do clarify and break up, in the 
■eommunicating and discoursing with another ; 
1 hs tiJssfitb his thoughts moxe easily ; he mar- 



106 or miEKDsniF- 

shaileth tbeai more orderly ; lie seeth hovr 
they look v/hen they are turned into words ; 
linally, he waxeth wiser than himself; aad 
that more by an Hour's- discourse than by a 
day's meditation, it %vas well said by.The- 
mistocles to the idng of Persia, " that speech 
was like cloth of Arras,- opened and pin 
abroad :" whereby the imagery doth appp'-ir in 
figure; whereas in thoughts they lie but as in 
packs. Neither is this second fruit of friend- 
ship, in opening the nnderstanding, restrained 
only to such friends as are s.ble to give a man 
coui^sel, (they indeed are best,) but even 
without that a man learneth of iiimself, and 
bringeth "^his own thoughts to light, and whet- 
teth his wits as against a stone, which itself 
cots not. In a word, a man were better relate 
himsek" to a statue or picture than to suffer his 
thoughts to pass in smother. 

Add, now, to make this second fruit of 
friendship complete, that other point which 
lieth more open, and falleth within vulgar 
cbsen^ation : which is faithful counsel from a 
friend. Heraclitiis saith well in one of his 
enigmas, ".Dry lisjht is ever the best," and 
certain it is, that the light that a man receiveth 
hj connsei from another is drier and purer 
than that which eometh from his own under- 
standing and judgment ; which is ever infused 
find drenched in his affections and customs. 
So as there is as much difference between the 
counsel that a friend giveth, and that a man 
gireth himself, as there is between the- conn-? 



OF FKir:-N'v3HIP. 107 

?'el of a friend and of a flatterer ; . iiyr there is 
no such flatterer as is a man's self^ .aid there 
is no such remedy agalDst flattery ^ ( a man's 
8elf as the iiberty of a Ixiend. Counsel is of 
two sorts ; the one concerning manners, the 
other concerning business ; for the iirst, the 
best preservative to keep the mind in health 
is the faitiiful admonition of a fricjid. The 
calling of a man's self to a strict account is a 
medicirc sonc'in^es t30 7'c"cir~ <rd co""&- 



sive ; leac ng c^^oq ' lu 


s of 'noiiii 


iittie <lat and dead, o^'^ 
others is sometV.v s i n^ 


--v rr OLl 


-^0-e. f.. c 


but the bes^ i^c- , t f' ' 


1 - I- s O 


best to id' e) ^s ' 


I n 


It is a <rc, ^-^ t-i 


■i ' 


rors a] d c-' c ^^ 




of jhs ^-t„ r '^ ^ o 


I, 


a friend to ^^-h l^^ n 


. , > t 


daniap-c bv^n of i ' 




as St'^di-r^^ '- ' 





of 

for, 



sometiiieo '3 ^ 
their c ^' u >' , ^ — 
a Dinn may thinL, ^' 
no more tLaa 01.^; 
aiv/avG mo'-c taij. a *w0^ei--n 
Id anger it, as v,rse aa iie laa. 
the fou~-and-l'vveLt}' Icl^e-^ , c 
may be s'lct osf as \>Ld i^^y ^ 
a rest; z^xl ^v."! ^-J-^'-^^ ^ 

aatioES, to ih^ilL ^^£ " ^ .a ^ 

til is cone^ tiis ^c ^ - 
wJiirh -^cttlFth h"^" z 



- ) 


a^r 


a nz^j 


tiat 


sai 


i G/e- 


tha 


t a 


^•L >C' 


e "^ 


^ Cl 


•^ u^jon 


L 


r T 


--_"r ^ 




^^-t, 


when 


^ i_ 




'; \l^' 




•"t-C 


' '"/ 



St5S OP FtUEKSiStF. 

maa think that he will take cmlnsfel, bsf it 
shall be by pieces ; asking counsel in one bu- 
siness of one man, and in another business of 
another man ; it is as well, (that is to say, bet- 
ter, perhaps, than if he asked none at all,) but 
he runneth two dangers ; one, that he shall 
not be faithfully couHbelled ; for it is a rare 
thing, except it be from a perfect and entire 
friend, to have counsel given, but such as shall 
be bowed and crooked to some ends which he 
laath that giveth it : the other, th?,t he shall 
have counsel given, hurtful and unsafe, (though 
"■'Vif «good meaning,) ar^d mixed parti j of mis- 
rhiei", and partly of remedy j even as if you 
woujid call a pbysiciaii, that is thought good 
for the cure of the disease you complain ofy 
but is unacquainted with your body ; and, 
therefore, may put you in a way for present 
cure, but overthroweth your health in some 
other kind, and so cure the disease, and kiU M 
tJie patient : but a friend, that is wholly ac- 
ciuainted with a man's estate,' will beware, by 
fr-rtbering any present business, how he dash- 
eth upon other inconvenience ; and, therefore^ 
rest not upon scattered counsels ; for they will 
mthQT distract and mislead than settle and 
direct. 

After these two noble fraits of friendship 
^peace in the affections and support of the judg- 
iiicnt) followeth the last fruit, which is, like 
the pomegranate, full of raany kernels ; I meaa, 
uid and bearing a part in all actions and. occa- 
4!ii>^s. H(,T<* th.6 D&Tf t "^TSfy to rapre^eat tp life- 



OF FRIENDSHIP. 109 

the manifold use of friendship, is to cast and 
see how many things there are which a man 
cannot do himself; and then it wiil appear 
that it was a sparing speech of the ancients to 

;; say, " that a friend is another himseh"; for 
that a friend is far more than himself." Men 
have their time, and die many times in desire 
of some things which they principally take to 
heart ; the bestowing of a ciiild, the finishing 
of a work, or the like. If a man have a true 
friend, he may rest almost secure that the care 
of those things will continue after him ; so 

I that a man hath, as it p/ere, two lives in his 
desires. A man hath a body, and that body 
is confined to a place ; but where friendship 
is, all offices of life are, as it were, granted to 
him and his deputy ; for he may esercise thern 
by his fiicnd. How many things are there 
which a man cannot, with any face or comeli- 
nes-, say or do himself! A man can scarce 
allege his own merits wiih modest}', much less 
extol them : a rnan cannot sometimes brook 
to supplicate, or beg, uiid a number of the like : 
but all these things ■;:■: nvjAlin a fi'iend's 

mouth, which are b:i., ^ ::: a man's own. 

So again, a man's person hath many^ proper 
relations which he cannot put off. A man 
cannot speak to Jus son but as a father; to his 
wife but as a husband ; to his enemy but upon 
terms : whereas a friend may speak as the 
case requires, and notes if sorteth with the 
person ;* but to enumerate these things were 
10 



110 OF EXrENSE. 

endless ; I have given the rule, v/here a mem 
cannot htly play his own part *, if he have not 
& friend, he may quit the stage. 



HicKES are for spending, and spending for 
honour and good actions ; therefore extraordi- 
nary expense must be limited by the worth of 
the occasion ; for volimtary nn doing may be 
ES well for a man's cormtiy as for the kingdom 
of heaven ; but ordinary expense ought to be 
limited by a man's estate, and governed "with 
such regard as it be within his compass ; 
and not subject to deceit and abuse of ser- 
vants ; and ordered to the best show, that the 
bills rnay be less than the estimation abroad. 
Certainly, if a man will keep but of even 
hand, his ordinary expenses ought to be but 
to the half of his receipts ; and if he think to 
nvax rich, but to the third part. It is no base- 
ness for the greatest to descend and look into 
their own estate. Some forbear it, not iipon 
negligence alone, but doubting to bring them- 
selves into mekiicholYj in respect they shall 
find it broken : but v/onnds cannot be cnred 
%vithout searching. He that cannot look into 
his own estate at all had need both choose 
well those whom he employeth, and change 
them often ; for mw are more timorous and 
less subtle. Ke that can look into his estatQ 



^F THE TRUE GR£ATx%'ESS, $Le. ill 

but seldom, it beliooveth him to turn all to cer- 
tainties. A man had needj if he be plentiful 
in some kind of expense, to be as saving again 
in some other; as, if he be plentiful in aietj 
to be saving in opparel ; if he be pieritiiul in 
the hall, to be saving in the stable, and the 
like : for he that is plentiful in expenses of all 
kinds will hardly be presen-ed from decsy. 
In clearing of a man's estate, he may es well 
hurt himseh'' in being too sudden, as m letting 
it run on too long ; for hs^sty selling h com* 
monly as disadvantageable as iBLerest. Be- 
sides, he that clears at once will relapse; for, 
finding himself out of straits, he will revert to 
his custom.s ; but he that cleareth by degrees 
induceth a habit of fregaiity, and gaineth ss 
T/ell upon his mind as upon his eitate. Cer* 
tainly, who hath a state to repair may not de- 
spise small things ; and, commonly, it is less 
dishonourable to abridge petty charges than to 
stoop to petty gettings. A man ought "warily 
to begin charges, which once begim will con- 
tinue : but in matcere that return not he miy 
he more magniiicent. 



OF THS TRUE GREATNESS OP KINGDCSrS 

AND ESTATES. 

The speech of Themistocles the Athenian, 
irhich was haughty nnd arrogant, in taking so 
9iuch to himself, had been a grave and wise 
#'biervetion and censure, applied, at large, to 



112 OF THE TRUE GIlEAl'NESS 

others. Desired at a feast to touch a iutc, he 
said, " he could not fiddle, but yet he could 
make a small town a great city." These 
words (bolpen a little with a metaphor) may 
express two differing abilities in those that deal 
in business of estate ; for, if a tnie survey be 
taken of counsellors and statesmen, there may , 
be found (though rarely) those which can : 
make a small state great, and yet j;annot fid- ; 
die ; as, on the other side, there will be found': 
a great many that can fiddle very cunningly^ j 
but yet are so far from being able to make a 
small state great, as their gift lieth the other 
way ; to bring a great and flourishing estate to 
ruin and decay ; and, certainly, those degene- 
rate arts and shifts, whereby many counsellors 
and governors gain both favour v/ith their 
masters, and estimation with the vulgar, de- i 
serve no better name than fiddling ; being 
things rather pleasing for the time, and grace- 
ful to themselves only, than tending to the 
weal and advancement of the state which they ! 
serve. There are also (no dou')t) counselbrs; 
and governors which may be held sufficientjt, 
'' negotiis pares," able to manage affairs, and 
to keep them from precipices and manifest in- 
conveniences ; which, nevertheless, are far 
from the ability to raise and amplify an estate 
in power, means, and fortune : but be the 
workmen what they may be, let us spesik of 
the work ; that is, the true greatness of king- 
doms and estates, and the means thereof. An 
argument fit for great and mighty princes td 



Ot KTSNfcrDO^iii aI^H ESTATES. 115 

iiave in their band ; to the end, that neither 
by overmeasuring their forces they lose them- 
selves in Tain enterprises; nor, on the other 
'Bide, by undervaluing them, they descend to 
fearful and pusillanimous counsels. 

The greatness of an estate, in bulk and ter- 
ritory, doth fail under measure ; and the great-* 
ness of finances and revenue doth foil under 
computation. The population may appear bv^ 
•musters; and the number and greatness of 
cities and towns by cards and maps ; but yet 
'«h«re is not any thing, amongst civil aitairsj 
more subject to error than the right valuation 
and true judgment concerning the power and 
forces of an estate. The kingdom of heaven 
as conipared, not to any great kernel, or nut, 
but to a grain of mustard-seed ; which is one 
of the least grains, but hath in it a property 
and spirit hastily to get up and spread. So 
^re there states great in territory, and yet not 
apt to enlarge or command: and some that 
have but a small dimension of stem, and yet 
are apt to be the foundation of great njonar^ 
chies. 

Walled towns, stored arsenals and aiTnories., 
goodly races of horse, chariots of v/ar, ele- 
phants, ordnance, artillery, and the like ; all 
this is but a sheep in a lion's skin, except the 
breed and disposition of the people be stout 
and warlike. Nay, number (itself) in armies 
importeth not much, w^here the people are of 
weak courage ; for, as Yirgil saith, " it never 
tcoubles the wolf how many the sheep be," 
10 * 



114 Ot TRE TRUE GREATNBSS 

The army of the Persians, in the plains of Ar* 
bela, was such a vast sea of people as it did 
somewhat astonish the commanders in Alex- 
ander's army, who came to him, therefore, and 
wished him to set upon them by night ; but he 
answered, "■ he would not pilfer the victory ;"^ 
and the defeat was easy. When Tigranes, the 
Armenian, being encamped upon a hill with 
four hundred thousand men, discovered the 
army of the Romans, being not above fourteen 
thousand, marching tov^ards him, he made him- 
self merry with it, and said, " Yonder men are 
too many for an embassage, and too few for a 
fight :" but before the sun set, he found them 
enow to give him the chase, with infinite slaugh- 
ter. Many are the examples of the great odds 
between number and courage : so that a man 
may truly make a judgment, that the prin- 
cipal point of greatness in any state is to 
have a race of military men. Neither is 
money the sinews of vmr (as it is trivially 
said) where the sinews of men's arms in base 
and effeminate people are failing ; for Solon 
said well to Crossus, (when in ostentation he 
showed him his gold,) " Sir, if any other 
come that hath better iron than you, he will 
be master of all this gold." Therefore, let 
any prince, or state, think soberly of his forces, 
except his militia of natives be of good and 
valiant soldiers ; and let princes on the other 
side, that have subjects of martial disposition, 
know their own strength, unless they be other- 
wise wanting unto themselves. As for mer- 



OJ KINSDOMS ANB ESTATES. 115 

eenary forces, (which is the help in this case,) 
all examples show that, whatsoever estate, or 
prince, doth rest upon them, he may spread 
his feathers for a time, but he will mew them 
-soon after. 

The blessing of Judas and Issachar will 
never meet ; that the same people, or nation, 
should be both the lion's whelp and the ass 
between burdens ; neither will it be, that a 
people overlaid with taxes should ever become 
valiant and martial. It is true, that taxes, levi- 
ed by consent of the estate, do abate men's 
courage less ; as it hath been seen notably in 
the exercises of the Low Countries ; and, in 
some degree, in the subsidies of England : for, 
you must note, that we speak now of the heart, 
and not of the purse; so that, although the 
same tribute and tax, laid by consent or by 
imposing, be all one to the purse, yet it works 
diversely upon the courage. So that you may 
conclude, that no people overcharged with 
tribute is fit for empire. 

Let states, that aim at greatness, take heed 
how their nobility and gentlemen do multiply 
too fast; for that maketh the common subject 
grow to be a peasant and base svvain, driven 
out of heart, and, in eiTect, but a gentleman's 
labourer. Even as you may see in coppice 
woods ; if you leave your straddles too thick, 
you shall never have clean underwood, but 
shrubs and bushes. So in countries, if the 
gentlemen be too many, the commons will be 
base ; and you will bring it to that, that not 



11-6 OF THS TEUii QRiLAT-Si^m 

the hundredth poll will be St for a helmet { 
especially as to the infantry, which is the^| 
ner\^e of an army : and so there will be great i 
population and little strength. This which I 
speak of hath been no where better seen than 
by comparing of England and France ; whereof 
England, though far less in territory and pop- 
ulation, hath been (nevertheless) an o\ci- 
match ; in regard the middle people of Eng- 
land make good soldiers, which the peasants 
of France do not : and herein the device ci 
King Henry the Seventh (whereof I have 
spoken largely in the history of his life) war, 
profound and admirable ; in making farms ar:-i 
houses of husbandry of a standard; that is, 
maintained with sncli a proportion of land unto 
them as may breed a subject to live in conve- 
nient plenty, and no servile condition ; and 
to keep the plough in the hands of the owners, 
and not mere hirelings ; and thus indeed ye 
shall attain to Virgil's character, %vhich he gives 
to ancient Italy : 

" Terra potens armis atque ubera glebse." 

Keither is that state (which, for any thing I 
know, is almost peculiar to England, and 
hardly to be found any where else, except it 
be perhaps in Poland) to be passed over ; I 
mean the state of free servants and attendants 
upon noblemen and gentlemen, which are no 
ways inferiour unto the yeomanry for arms ; 
find, therefore, out of all question, the splen- 
i^ur and magnificence, and great rotiiiues, the 



OF KINGDOMS AND ESTATES. llT 

hospitality of noblemen and gentlemen re- 
ceived into custom, do much conduce unto 
martial greatness : whereas, contrariwise, the 
close and reserved living of noblemen and 
gentlemen causeth a penury of military forces. 
By all means it is to be procured, that the 
trunk of Nebuchadnezzar's tree of monarchy 
be great enough to bear the branches and the 
boughs ; that is, that the natural subjects of the 
crown or state bear a sufficient proportion to the 
strange subjects that they govern : therefore, 
all states that are liberal of naturalization to- 
v/ards strangers are lit for empire : for to think 
that a handful of people can, with the greatest 
courage and policy in the world, embrace too 
large extent of dominion, it may hold for a 
time, but it will fail suddenly. The Spartans 
were a nice people in point of naturalization : 
whereby, while they kept their compass, they 
stood firm ; but when they did spread, and 
their boughs were become too great for their 
stem, they became a windfall upon the sudden. 
Never any state was, in this point, so open to 
receive strangers into their body as were the 
Romans; therefore it sorted with them ac- 
cordingly, for they grew to the greatest mon- 
archy. Their manner was to grant naturaliza- 
tion, (which they called "jus civitatis,") and 
to grant it in the hij^hest degree, that is, not 
only "jus commercii, jus connu^ii, jus ha^re- 
ditatis ;" but also "jus snifragii," and "jus 
honorum ;" and this not to singular persons 
alone, but likewise to whole families ; yea, to 



119 OF THE TRUE iJRBATNESS 

t!itie8, and sometimes to nations. Add to this 
their custom of plantation of colonies, where- , 
by the Roman plant was removed into the soil 
-of other nations ; and, putting both constitu* 
lions together, you wi!l say, t!\3t it was not (he 
Romans that spread upon the world, but it ' 
was the world that spread upon the Romans ; 
End that was the sure wtiy of greatness. I 
have marvelled sometimes at Spain, how they 
clasp and contain so large dominions with so 
few natural Spaniards : but sure the whole 
compass of Spain is a very great body of a 
tree, far above Rome and Sparta at the first ; 
and, besides, though they have not had that 
usage to naturalize liberally, yet they have that 
which is next to it ; that is, to employ, almost 
indifferently, all nations in their militia of or- 
dinary soldiers; yea, and sometimes in their 
highest commands : nay, it seemeth, at this iu» 
stant, they are sensible of this want of natives : 
as by the pragmatical sanction, iiow published, 
appeareth. 

It is certain, that sedentary and w-ithln-door 
arts, and delicate manufactures (that require 
rather the finger than the arm) have in their 
nature a contrariety to a military disposition ; 
and, generally, all warlike people are a little 
idle, and love danger better than fe'avaii ; nei- 
ther must they be too much brc^ken of it, if 
they shall be preserved in rigour : therefore, 
it was great advantage in the ancient states 
of Sparta, Athens, Rome, and others, that they 
kad the use of slaves, which commealy did 



or KINGDOMS AND ESTATBS. 119 

fid those manufactures ; but that is abolished, 
in greatest part, by the Christian law. That 
which Cometh nearest to it is, to leave those 
arts chiefly to strangers, (which, for that pur- 
pose, are the more easily to be received,) and 
to contain the principal bulk of the vulgar na-- 
lives within those three kinds, tillers of the 
ground, free servants, and handicraftsmen cf 
strong and manly arts ; as smiths, masons, 
carpenters, &,c., not reckoning professed sol- 
diers. 

But, above all, for empire and greatness, it 
importeth most, that a nation do profess arms 
as their principal honour, study, and occupa-- 
tion ; for the things which we formerly have 
spoken of, are but habilitations towards arms ; 
and Vviiat is habilitation vvithout intention and 
act ? Uomulus, after his death, (as they report 
or feign,) sent a present to the Romans, that 
above all they should intend arms, and then 
they should prove the greatest empire of the 
world. The fabric of the state of Sparta was 
wlioHy (though not wisely) framed and com- 
posed to that scope and end ; the Persians and 
lUacedouians had it for a iiash ; the Gauls, 
Germans, Goths, Saxons, Normans, and oth- 
ers, had it for a time : the Turks have it at 
this day, though in great declination. Of 
Christian Europe, they that have it are, in ef- 
fect, only the Spaniards : but it is so plain, that 
e^^evj man profiteth in that he most intendeth, 
that it needeth not to be stood upon : it is 
pnoTigh to point at it ; that no nation, which 



120 OP THE TRUE GRfiATNES* 

doth not directly profess arms, may look to 
have greatness fall into their mouths ; and, on 
the other side, it is a most certain oracle of 
time, that those states that continue long in \ 
that profession (as the Romans and Turks 
principally have dowe) do wonders; and those 
that have professed arms but for an age have, 
notwithstanding, comroonly attained that great- 
ness in that age v/hich maintained them long , 
after, when their profession and exercise of 
arms hath grown to decay. 

Incident to this point is for a state to have 
those laws or customs which may reach forth 
unto them just occasions (as may be pretend- 
ed) of war ; for there is that justice iniprinted 
in the nature of men, that they enter not upon 
wars, (whereof so many calamities do ensue,) 
but upon some, at the least specious, grounds 
and quarrels. The Turk hath at hand, for 
cause of war, the propagation of his law or 
sect, a quarrel that he may always command. 
The Romans, though they esteemed the ex- 
tending the limits of their empire to be great 
honour to their generals when it was done, ' 
yet they never rested upon that alone to begin 
a war : first, therefore, let nations that pre- 
tend to greatness have this, that they be sen- 
sible of wrongs, either upon borderers, mer- 
chants, or politic ministers ; and that they sit 
not too long upon a provocation : secondly, let 
thera be pressed and ready to give aids and 
succours to their confederates as it ever was 
with the Romans : insomuch a? if the ronfed--.i 



* or KiNGJJOAis a:;i» instates. l^>i 

j^rates had leagues defensive with divers other 
states, and, upon invasion offered, did implore 
*heir aids severally, yet the Romans would 
^ver he the foi-emost, and leave it to none 
other to have tlie honour. As for the wars, 
which v/ere anciently made on the oehalf of 
-a kind of party, or tacit conformity of state, I 
do not see how ihe}- may be well justified : as 
when the Romans made a war for the liberty 
of Grascia ; or, when the Lacedoernonians and 
Athenians made war to set up or pull dov/n 
democracies and oligarchies : or, when wars 
wei-e made by foreigners, under the pretence 
of justice or protection, to deliver the sobject?; 
of others from tyranny and oppression, and the 
like. Let it suihce, that no estate expect to 
be great, that is not awake upon any just oc^ 
easion of arming- 
No body can. be healthful without exercise, 
neither natural body nor politic ; and^ certain- 
ly, to a kingdora, or estate, a just and honour- 
a,ble %var is the true e:cercise. A civil war, 
indeed, is like the heat of a fever ; but a for- 
eign war is like the heat of exercise, and 
serveth to keep the body in health ; for, in a 
slothful peace, both courages will effeminate, 
and manners corrupt ; but hov/soever it be for 
happiness, without all question for greatness,^ 
it maketh to be still for the most part in arms : 
and the strength of a veteran army, (though it 
be a chargeable business,) ahvays on foot, is that 
which commonly giveth the law; or, at leasts 
•thee reputation among;:';! all neigbbour stales, as 
■ 11 ^' 



122 OP TliE TIIUE GREATNESS 

may be well seen in Spain '; which hath had, 
in one part or other, a veteran army almost 
continually, now by the space of six score 
years. 

To be master of the sea is an abridgment 
of a monarchy. Cicero, writing to Atticus of | 
Pompey's preparation against Caesar, saith,. 
*' Consilium Pompeii plane Themistocleum 
est ; putat enim, qui mari potitur, eum reruni 
potiri ;" and, without doubt, Pompey had tired 
out Caesar, if upon vain confidence he had not 
left that way. We see the great effects of 
battles by sea : the battle of Actium decided 
the empire of the world : the battle of Lepanto 
arrested the greatness of the Turk. There 
be many examples, where sea fights have been 
final to the war : but this is when princes, or 
states, have set up their rest upon the battles ; 
but thus much is certain, that he that com- 
mands the sea is at great liberty, and may 
take as much and as little of the vvar as he 
%viil ; whereas, those that be strongest by 
land are raany times, nevertheless, in great 
straits. Surely, at this day, with us of Eu- 
rope, the vantage of strength at sea (which is 
one of the principal dowries of this kingdom 
of Great Britain) is great ; both because most 
of the kingdoms of Europe are not merely 
inland, but girt mth the sea most part of their 
compass; and because the wealth of both 
Indies seems, in great part, but an accessary 
to the command of the seas. 

The wars of later ages mem to be made in 



OP KINGDOMa AM) EbTAfEi?. 123 

the dark, in respect of the glory and honour 
tvhich reflected upon ip.eii from the wars in 
ancient time. There be now, for martial encour- 
agement, some degrees and orders of chivalry, 
which, nevertheless, are conferred promiscuous- 
ly upon soldiers and no soldiers, and some re- 
membrance perhaps upon the escutcheon, and 
some hospitals for maimed soldiers, and sux-li 
like things ; but, in ancient times, the trophies 
erected upon the place of the victory ; the 
funeral laudatives and monuments for those 
that died in the v/ars ; the crowns and gar- 
lands personal ; the style of emperor, which 
the great kings of the world after borrowed ; 
the triumphs of the generals upon their return ; 
the great donatives and largesses upon the dis- 
banding of the armies, — were things able to in- 
flame all men's courages ; but, above all, that 
of the triumph amongst the Romans was not 
pageants, or gaudery, but one of the wisest 
and noblest institutions that ever was ; for it 
contained three things, honour to the general, 
riches to the treasury out of the spoils, and 
donatives to the army : but that honour, per- 
haps, were not fit for monarchies ; except it 
be in the person of the monarch himself, or 
his sons; as it came to pass in the tim_e3 
of the Roman emperors, who did impro- 
priate the actual triumphs to themselves 
and their sons, for such wars as they did 
achieve in person, and left only for wars 
achieved by subjects some triumphal garments 
»Dd ensigns to the general. 



124 OF UEGirvIEX OV iiZALTIJt. 

To conclude : no man can, by care taking, 
(as the scripture saitb.,) "add a cubit to his 
stature," in this little model of a man's body ; 
but in the great frame of kingdoms and com- 
monwealths, it is in the power of princes, or 
estates, to add amplitude and greatness to their 
iiingdoms ; for, by introducing such ordi- 
nances, constitutions, and customs, as we have 
now touched, they may sow greatness to their 
posterity and succession : but these things are 
commonly not observed, but left to take their 
rhance. 



OF REGIMEN OF HEALTH, 

There is a wdsdom in this beyond the rules 
of physic ; a man's own observation, what he 
finds good of, and wdiat he finds hurt of, is the 
best physic to preserve health ; but it is a 
safer conclusion to say, " This agreeth not 
well with mej therefore I will not continue 
it," than this, " I find no oilx-nce of this, 
therefore I m_ay use it :" for strength of na- 
ture in youth passeth over many excesses 
which are owing a man till his age. Discern 
of the coming on of years, and think not to do 
the same things still ; for age will not be de- 
fied. Bevv^are of sudden change in any great 
point 'of diet, and, if necessity enforce it, fit 
the rest to it ; for it is a secret, both in nature 
and state, that it is safer to change many 
things than one. Examine thy customs of 



©F REbiMlirM OF KEALTS. V25 

diet, sleep, exercise, apparel, and the like ; 
and try, in any thing thou sb alt judge hurtful, 
to discontinue it by little and little ; but so as, 
if thou dost find any inconvenience by the 
change, thou come back to it again : for it is 
hard to distinguish that which is generally 
held good and wholesome from that which is 
good particularly, and fit for thine own body. 
To be free-minded and cheerfully disposed at 
hours of meat and sleep, and of exercise, is 
one of the best precepts of long lasting. As 
for the passions and studies of the mind, avoid 
envy, anxious fears, anger, fretting inwards, 
subtile and knotty inquisitions, joys and exhil- 
arations in access, sadness not communicated. 
Entertain hopes, mirth rather than joy, variety 
of delights rather than surfeit of them ; won- 
der and admiration, and therefore novelties ; 
studies that fill the mind with splendid ancc 
illustrious objects, as histories, fables, and 
contemplations of nature. If you fly physic 
in health altogether, it will be too strange for 
your body when you shall need it; if you 
make it too familiar, it wdli work no extraor- 
dinary effect when sickness cometh. I com- 
mend rather some diet for certain seasons than 
frequent use of physic, except it be grown into 
a custom ; for those diets alter the body more, 
and trouble it less. Despise no new accident 
in your body, but ask opinion of it. In sick- 
ness, respect health principally ; and in healthy 
action : for those that put their bodies to en- 
dure health, may, in most sicknesses wMcIj 

n *' 



\'26 OF iiUbi'iciOiV. 

are not very sharp, be cured only with diet 
and tendering. Celsus conid never have 
spoken it as a physician, had he not been a 
wise man v/ithal, when he giveth it for one of 
the great precepts of health and lasting, that 
a man do vary and interchange contraries ; 
but with an inclination to the more benign 
extreme : use fasting and fall eating, but 
rather full eating ; v/atching and sleep, but 
rather sleep ; sitting and exercise, but rather 
exercise, and the like : so shall nature be 
cherished, and yet taught masteries. Phj'si- 
cians are some of them so pleasing and com- 
formable to the humour of the patient, as they 
press not the true cure of the disease ; and 
some other are so regular in proceeding ac- 
cording to art for the disease, as they respect 
not sufficiently the condition of the patient. 
Take one of a middle temper ; or, if it may 
not be found in one man, combine two of 
either sort ; and forget not to call as well 
the best acquainted with your body, as the 
best reputed of for his faculty. 



OF SUSPICION. 



Suspicions amongst thoughts are like bats 
amongst birds, they ever iiy by twilight : cer- 
tainly they are to be repressed, or, at the least, 
well guarded ; for they cloud the mind, they | 
lose friends, and they check with business, | 
Vr'hereby business cannot go on currently and ' 



OF susi-i'UON. 1:27 

constantly : they dispose kings to tyranny, 
husbands to jealousy, wise men to irresolution 
and melancholy : they are defects, not in the 
heart, but in the brain ; for they take place in 
the stoutest natures : as in the example of 
Henry the Saveiith of England ; there was 
not a more saspicioiis man nor a more stout : 
and in such a composition they do small hurt ; 
for commonly they arc not admitted but with 
examineition, whether tliey be likely or no ; 
but in fearful natures they gain ground too 
fast. There is nothing makes a man suspect 
much, more than to know little ; and, there- 
fore, men should remedy suspicion by procur- 
ing to know more, and not to keep their sus- 
picions in smother. What v/ould men have ? 
do they think those they employ and deal witli 
are saints ? do they not think they will have 
their own ends, and be truer to themselves 
than to them ? therefore there is no better 
way to moderate suspicions than to account 
upon such su:^picion5 as true, and yet to bridle 
them as false : for so far a man ought to 
make use of suspicions as to provide, as if 
that should be true that he suspects, yet it may 
do him no hurt. Suspicions that the mind of 
itself gathers are but buzzes; but suspicions 
that are artificially nourished, and put into 
men's heads by the tales and whisperings of 
others, have stings. Certainly, the best mean 
to clear the v/ay in this same v>^ood of suspi- 
cions, is frankly to comm^unicate them with the 
party that he suspects ; for thereby lie shall 



128 OF r>iscouRs«» 

be sure to know more of the truth of them 
than he did before ; and withal shall make 
that party more circumspect, not to give fur- 
ther cause of suspicion ; but this v/ould not be 
done to men of base natures ; for they, if they 
find themselves once suspected, will never be 
true. The Italian says, " Sospetto licentia 
fede ;" as if suspicion did give a passport to 
faith ; but it ought rather to kindle it to dis^ 
charge itself. 



OF DISCOURSE. 

Some in their discourse desire rather com- 
mendation of wit, in being able to hold all ar- 
guments, than of judgment, in discerning what 
is true ; as if it were a praise to know what 
might be said, and not what should be thought. 
Some have certain common places and themes, 
wherein they are good, and want variety; 
which kind of poverty is, for the most part, 
tedious, and, when it is once perceived, ridic-' 
ulous. The honourablest part of talk is to 
give the occasion ; and again to moderate and 
pass to somewhat else, for then a man leads 
the dance. It is good in discourse, and speech 
of conversation, to vary and intermingle speech 
of the present occasion with arguments, tales 
with reasons, asking of questions with telling 
of opinions, and jest with earnest : for it is a 
dull thing to tire, and, as we say now, to jade 
any thing too far. As for jest, there be cer- 



OF DISCOURSE. 129 

iain things which ought to be piiviieged from 
it ; namely, religion, matters of state, great per- 
sons, any man's present business of importance, 
and any case that deserveth pity ; yet there be 
some that think their v/its have been asleep, 
except tJiey dart out somewhat that is piquant, 
and to the quick ; that is a vein which should 
be bridled : 

'' Parce pucr stimulis, et f^;rliu3 uterc loris." 

And, generally, men ought to find the differ- 
ence between saltness and bitterness. Cer- 
tainly, he that hath a satirical vein, as he 
maketh others afraid of his v*^it, so he had 
need be afraid of others' memory. He that 
questioneth much shall learn much, and con- 
tent much ; but especially if he apply Iiis 
questions to the skill of the persons v/hom he 
asketh ; for he shall give them occasion to 
please themselves in speaking, and himself 
shall continually gather knowledge ; but let 
his questions not be troublesome, for that is fit 
for a poser ; and let him be sure to leave other 
men their tarns to speak : nay, if there be any 
that would reign 5 and take up all the time, let 
him find means to take them off, and bring 
others on : as musicians use to do wdth those 
that dance too long galliards. If you dissem- 
ble sometimes your knowledge of that you are 
thought to know, you shall be thought, another 
time, to knov\^ that you know not. Speech 
of a man's self ought to be seldom, and well 
chosen. I knew one v;as wont to say in scoTn^ 



130 OP DISCOURSE. 

" He must needs be a wise man, he speaks so 
much of himself:" and there is but one case 
wherein a man may commend himself with 
good grace, and that is in commending virtue 
in another, especially if it be such a virtue 
whereuato himself pretendeth. Speech of 
touch towards others should be sparingly used ; 
for discourse ought to be as a field, without 
coming home to any man. I knew two no- 
blemen, of the west part of England, whereof 
the one was given to scoff, but kept ever 
royal cheer in his house ; the other would ask 
of those that had been at the other's table, 
" Tell truly, was there never a flout or dry 
blow given ?" to which the guest would an- 
swer, " Such and such a thing passed :" the 
lord would say, " I thought he would mar a 
good dinner." Discretion of speech is more 
than eloquence ; and to speak agreeably to 
him with whom we deal, is more than to 
speak in good words, or in good order. A 
good continued speech, without a good speech 
of interlocution, shows slowness ; and a good 
reply, or second speech, without a good settled 
speech, showeth shallowness and weakness. 
As we see in beasts ; those that are weakest in 
the course, are yet nimblest in the turn ; as it 
is betwixt the greyhound and the hare. To 
use too many circumstances, ere one come to 
the matter, is wearisome ; to use none at 
alL is blunt 



OF PLANTATIONS. 131 



OF PLANTATIONS. 



Plantations are amongst ancient, primitive 
and heroical works. When the world was 
young it begat more children ; but now it is 
old it begets fewer : for I may justly account 
new plantations to be the children of former 
kingdoms. I like a plantation in a pure soil ; 
that is, where people are not displanted to the 
end to plant in others ; for else it is rather an 
extirpation than a plantation. Planting of 
countries is like planting of woods ; for you must 
make account to lose almost twenty years' 
profit, and expect your recompense in the end : 
for the principal thing that hath been the de- 
struction of most plantations hath been the 
base and hasty drawing of profit in the first 
years. It is true, speedy profit is not to be 
neglected, as far as it may stand with the good 
of the plantation, but no farther. It is a 
shameful and unblessed thing to take the scum 
of people, and wicked, condemned men, to be 
the people with whom you plant ; and not 
only so, but it spoileth the plantation ; for 
they will ever live like rogues, and not fall to 
work, but be lazy, and do mischief, and spend 
victuals, and be quickly weary, and tlien cer- 
tify over to their country to the discredit of 
the plantation. The people wherewith you 
plant ought to be gardeners, ploughmen, la- 
bourers, smiths, carpenters, joiners, fishermen, 
fowlers, with some few apotheearie?, surgeons, 



V6-2 or PLANTATIONS. 

cooks, and bakers. In a country of planta- 
tion, first look about what kind oi" victual the^ 
country yields of itself to hand : as chestnuts, 
walnuts, pine-apples, olives, dates, plums, 
cherries, v>'i'd Jinney, and tlse like, and make 
use of them. Then consider what victual^ 
or esculent things there are, which grov/ speed' 
ily, and within the year ; as parsnips, carrots, 
turnips, onions, radish, artichokes of Jerusa- 
lem, maize, and the like : for wheat, barley,- 
and oats, they ask too much labour ; but with 
pease and beans you may begin ; both because 
they ask less labour, and because they serve 
for meat as well as for bread ; and of rice, 
likev/ise, cometh a great increase, and it is a 
kind of meat. Above ail, there ought to be 
brought store of biscuit, oatmeal, iiour, meal, 
and the like, in the beginning, till bread may 
be had. For beasts or birds, take chiefly such 
as are least subject to diseases, and multiply 
fastest ; as swine, goats, cocks, hens, turkeys, 
geese, house-doves, and the like. The victual 
in plantations ought to be expended almost as 
in a besieged tovni ; that is, with certain al- 
lowance : and let the jnain part of the ground, 
employed to gardens or corn, be to a commx^n 
stock ; and to be laid in, and stored up, and 
then delivered out in proportion ; besides some 
spots of ground that any particular person 
v/ill manure for his own private use. Consid- 
er, likewise, what commodities the soil where 
the plantation is doth nalnrally yield, that they . 
^>ay some vray lielp to defr?y the charge of 



OF PLANTATIOAS. 1'3S 

te plantation ; so it be not, as was said, to 
e untimely j^rejudice of the main business, 
a3- it hath fared \v'ith tobacco in Virginia. 
Wood commonly aboundeth but too much ; 
and therefore timber is lit to be one. If there 
Be iron ore, and streams whereupon to set the 
mills, iron is a brave commodity where wood 
aboundeth. Making of bay-salt, if the climate 
be proper for it, would be put in experience : 
growing silk, likewise, if any be, is a likely 
commodity : pitch and tar, where store of iirs 
and pines are, will not fail ; so drugs and 
sweet woods, where they arc, cannot but yield 
profit; soap-ashes, likewise, and other things 
that may be thought of; but moil not too 
much under ground, for the hope of mines is 
very uncertain, and useth to make the planters 
lazy in other things. For government, let it 
be in the hands of one, assisted with some 
counsel ; and let them have commission to ex- 
ercise martial lavvs, with some limitation ; and, 
above all, let men make that profit of being 
in tlie v,''ilderneDo, as they have God always, 
and his service, before their eyes : let not the 
government of the plantation depend upon too 
many counsellors and undertakers in the coun- 
try that plauteth, but upon a temperate num- 
ber ; and let those be rather noblemen and 
gentlemen than in'cidio.ixib , f;;i tn^-y !auL ever 
to the present gain : let there be freedoms 
from custom, till the plantation be of strength ; 
and not only freedom from custom, but free- 
dom to carry their commodities where tliey 
12 



134 OP PLANTATIONS. 

may make their best of them, except there bs- 
some special cause of caution. Cram not ifl 
people, by sending too fast company after 
company ; but rather hearken how they waste, 
and send supplies proportionably ; but so as 
the number may live well m the plantation, 
and not by surcharge be in penury. It hath 
been a great endangering to the health of some 
plantations, that they have built along the 
sea and rivers, in marish and unwholesome 
grounds : therefore, though you begin there 
to avoid carriage and other like discommodi- 
ties, yet build still rather upwards from the 
stream than along. It concerneth, likewise, 
the health of the plantation, that they have 
good store of salt with them, that they may 
use it in their victuals when it shall be neces* 
sary. If you plant where savages are, do not 
only entertain them with trifles and gingles, 
but use them justly and graciously, with suffi- 
cient guard nevertheless ; and do not win their 
favour by helping them to invade their ene- 
mies, but for their defence it is not amiss ; and 
send oft of them over to the country that 
plants, that they may see a better condition 
than their own, and com .end it when they 
return. When the plantation grows to strength, 
then it is time to plant with women as well as 
wiiti men ; that the plantation may spread into 
generations, and not be ever pierced from 
without. It is the sinfulest thing in the 
world to forsake or destitute a plantation 
once in forwardness; for, besidee ^e dis- 



or Ricmss, 155 

honour, it is the guiltiness of blood of many 
commiserable persons. 



OF RICHES. 



I CANNOT call riches better than the baggage 
of virtue ; the Roman word is better, " imped- 
imenta ;" for as the baggage is to an army, so 
is riches to virtue ; it cannot be spared nor 
left behind, but it hindereth the march ; yea, 
and the care of it sometimes loseth or disturb- 
eth the victory ; of great riches there is no 
real use, except it be in the distribution ; the 
rest is but conceit; so saith Solomon, " Where 
much is, there are many to consume it ; and 
what hath the owner but the sight of it with 
his eyes r" The personal fruition in any man 
cannot reach to feel great riches : there is a 
custody of them; or a power of dole and 
donative of them ; or a fame of them ; but no 
solid use to the owner. Do you not see what 
feigned prices are set upon little stones and 
rarities ? and vv^ha^ works of ostentation are 
undertaken, becaiije there might seem to be 
some use of great riches ? But then you will 
say, they may be of use to buy men out of 
dangers or troubles ; as Solomon saith, 
"Riches are as a strong hold in the imagina^- 
tion of the rich man :" but this is excellently 
expressed, that it is in imagination, and 
apt always in fact : for, certainly, great riches 
have sold more men tiian they have bou|phjl 



li^ OF HICJIE8. 

out. Seek not proud riches, but such as thou 
rnayst get justly, use soberly, distribute cheer- 
iaUy, and leave contentedly ; yet have no ab- 
stract or friarly contempt of them ; but distin- 
giiisli, as Cicero saitli well of Rabirius Post- 
humus, "in studio rei amplificandas appare* 
bat, non avaritise praedam, sed instrumentum 
bonitati qu^ri." Hearken also to Solomon, 
nnd beware of hasty gathering of riches; 
" Qui festinat ad divitias, non erit insons." 
The poets feign that when Piutus (which ig 
riches) is sent from Jupiter, he limps, and 
goes slowly ; but when he is sent from Pluto, 
he runs, and is swift of foot ; meaning, that 
riches gotten by good means and just labour 
pace slowly ; but when they come by the 
death of others, (as by the course of inheri- ; 
lance, testaments, and the like,) they come 
tumbling upon a man : but it might be applied 
likewise to Pluto, taking him for the devil : 
for when riches com.e from the devil, (as by * 
fraud and oppression, and unjust means,) they 
come upon speed. The ^vays to enrich are 
many, and most of them foul : parsimony is 
one of the best, and jQt is not innocent ; for it ' 
withhcldeth men from v%'orks of liberality and 
charity. The improvement of the ground is 
the most natural obtaining of riches ; for it is 
our great mother's blessing, the eorth ; but it 
is slow : and yet, where men of great v.'ealth 
do stoop to husbandry, it multiplieth riches 
exceedingly. I knew a nobleman of England, " 
that had the greatest audits of any man in my 



eP RlCflBS. IZH 

6m«, ft great grazier, a great sheep master, a 
great timber man, a great collier, a great com 
master, a great lead man, and so of iron, and a 
number of the like points of husbandry ; so as 
the earth seemed a sea to him in respect of the 
perpetual importation. It was truly observed 
by one, " That himself came very hardly to 
little riches, and very easily to great riches ;" 
for when a man's stock is come to that, that 
he can expect the prime of markets, and over-^ 
come those bargains, which for their greatness 
are few men's money^ and be partner in the 
industries of younger men, he cannot but 
increase mainly. The gains of ordinary trades 
and vocations are honest, and furthered by two 
things, chiefly, by diligence, and by a good 
name for good and fair dealing ; but the gains 
of bargains are of a more doubtful nature, 
when men shall wait upon others' necessity ; 
broke by servants and instruments to draw 
them on ; put off others cunningly that would 
be better chapmen, and the like practices, 
which are crafty and naughty : as for the 
chopping of bargains when a man buys not to 
hold, but to sell over again, that commonly 
grindeth double, both upon the seller and upon 
the buyer. Sharings do greatly enrich, if the 
hands be well chosen that are trusted. Usury 
is the certainest means of gain, though one of 
the worst, as that whereby a man doth eat his 
bread, " in sudore vultus alieni ;" and besides, 
doth plough upon Sundays : but yet, certain 
though it be, it hath flaws ; for that the scriv- 
13 • 



}0S or RICHES. 

eners and brokers do value unsound men to 
serve their own turn. The fortune, in being 
ihe first in an invention, or in a privilege^ 
doth cause sometimes a wonderful overgrowth 

in riches ; as it was with the first sugar man 
in the Canaries ; therefore, if a man can play - 
the true logician, to have as v/ell judgment as : 
invention, he may do great matters, especially 
if the times be fit : lie that resteth upon gains 
certain shall hardly grow to great riches ; and 
he that puts all upon adventures, doth oftcu- 
times break and come to poverty : it is good, ' 
therefore, to guard adventures v/ith certainties 
that may uphold losses. Monopolies, and co- 
emption of wares for resale, where they are 
not restrained, are great means to tnrlch; ■.. 
especially if the party have intelligence what 1 
things are like to come into request, and so 
store himself beforehand. Riches gotten by 
service, though it beof the best rise, yet when 
they are gotten by flattery, feeding humours, -^ 
and other servile conditions, they may be 
placed amongst the worst. As for ilvhing for- 
testaments and executorships, (as Tacitus saith 
of Seneca, " testamenta et orbos tanquam ^ 
indagine capi,") it is yet worse, by how much 
men submit themselves to meaner persons than 
in service. Believe not much them that seem 
to despise riches, for they despise them that 
despair of them ; and none w^brse when they 
come to them. Be not penny-wdse; riches 
have wings, and sometimes they fiy away of 
them.selvesj frometirQes they must be mt Spng. 



Si 



II 



I9. bring in more, rvien leave their riches 
either to their kindred or to the public ; and 
moderate portions prosper best in both. A 
great estate left to aa heir Is as a lure to all the 
birds of prey round about to seize on him, if he 
be not the belter established in years and judg- 
ment : likewise glorious gifts and foundalioD^ 
are like sacrilices without salt; and but the 
painted sepulchres of alms, which soon Vvill 
putrify and corrupt inwardly: therefore, meas- 
ure not thine advancements by quantity, but 
frame them by measure : and defer not chari- 
ties till death : for certainly, if a man weigh it 
rightly, he that doth so is rather liberal of 
another roan's than of his own. 



OF PROPHECIES. 
I MEAN not to speak of divine prophecies^ 
nor of heathen oracles, nor of natural predic- 
iiions ; but only of prophecies that have been 
of certain memory, and from hidden causes. 
Saith the Pythoaissa to Saul, '' Tomorrow 
thou and thy sons shall be with me.'' Virgil 
hath these verses from Homer : 

'' At doinus ^Enerc cJinctia dominabitur ori?, 

Hi iiati natorua-;; el qui iKLK.entar ab iliis." .SJln. iii. 07. 

A prophecy as it seems of the Roman empire 
Seneca^ the tragedian, hath these verses : 

c: Venient anuis 

FsBcuia. seris, quibus oceajius 
Vin cilia rerum laxet, et in gens 
Pa-teat telliis, Tiphyeque novoQ 
X>etegat orbea ; nee sit t-?'i-ris 



140 er pROpHEciEg. 

a prophecy of the discovery of America. The 
daughter of Polycrates dreamed that Jupiter 
bathed her father, and Apollo anointed him ; 
and it came to pass that he was crucified in an 
open place, where the sun made his body run 
with sweat, and the rain washed it. Philip 
of Macedon dreamed he sealed up his wife's 
belly; whereby he did expound it, that his 
wife should be barren ; but Aristander, the 
soothsayer, told him his wife was with child, 
because men do not use to seal vessels that 
are empty. A phantom, that appeared to H. 
Brutus in his tent, said to him, " Philippis 
iterum me videbis." Tiberius said to Galba, 
" tu quoque, Galba, degustabis iraperium." 
In Vespasian's time there went a prophecy in 
the East, that those that should come forth of 
Judea should reign over the world ; which 
tliough it may be was meant of our Saviour, 
yet Tacitus expounds it of Vespasian. Dom- 
itian dreamed, the night before he was slain, 
that a golden head was growing out of the 
nape of his neck; and indeed the succession 
that followed him, for many years, made golden ^ 
times. Henry the Sixth of England said of I 
Henry the Seventh, when he was a lad, and 
gave him water, " this is the lad that shall 
enjoy the crown for which we strive.'' When 
I was in France, I heard from one Dr. Pena^l 
that the queen mother, who was given to curi- ) 
ous arts, caused the king her husband's nativ- 
ity to be calculated under a false name ; and the 
astrologer gave a judgment, that he should be 



I CK I-hcJFHECI£S. 14 1 

idlled in a duel ; at which the queeii laughed, 
thinking her husband to be above challenges 
and duels : but he v/as slain upon a course 
at tilt, the splinters of the staff of Montgomery 
£oing in at his beaver. The trivial prophecy 
\vhich I heard when I was a chiku end qiiten 
Elizabeth was in the ilower of her yesirsj ^^as, 

** When hempe is spun 
EiigJaud's dc^ae:'^ 

whereby it was generaHy conceived, that after 
the princes had reigned which had the princi- 
pal letters of the vvord h^n^pe^ (v.'hich v. ere 
Henry, Edward, Mary, Philip, and Elizabeth,) 
England should come to otter confiision ; 
which, thanks be to God, is verified in the 
change of the name ; for the king's style is 
now no more of England but of Esilain. 
There was also another prophecy bei"ore the 
year of eighty-eight, which I diO not Vveli 
imderstand : 

"There shall be soon upon a dajj 
Between the Baueli ana the JMa5% 
Tlie bl==ick fleet of Xorwry. 
W^hen that is come ar.d Kone, 
Enghmd build houses of IJms and stone, 
Foi- after wars shall yon hri%-e none.-' 

fit was generally conceived to be meant of the 
Spanish fleet tliat came in eighty-eight : for 
r that the king of Spain's surname, as they say, is 
jKorway. The prediction of RegiomontanuSj 

: " Octogesimus octavos mirabilis annus," 

was thought likewise accomplished in the 
sending of that great fleet, being the greatest 



142 OF PROFHECIES. 

in strength, though not in number, of all that 
ever swam upon the sea. As for Cleon's 
dream, I think it was a jest ; it was, that he 
was devoured of a long dragon ; and it was 
expounded of a maker of sausages, that trou- 
bled him exceedingly. There ai'e numbers 
of the like kind ; especially if you include 
dreams, and predictions of astrology ; but I 
have set down these few only of certain credit, 
for example. My judgment is, that they 
ought all to be despised, and ought to serve 
but for winter talk by the fireside. Though, 
when I say despised, I mean it as for belief; 
for otherwise, the spreading or publishing of 
them is in no sort to be despised, for they 
have done much mischief; and I see many 
severe laws made to suppress them. That 
that hath given them grace, and some credit, 
consisteth in three things. First, that men 
mark when they hit, and never mark when 
they miss ; as they do, generally, also of 
dreams. The second is, that probable conjec- 
tures, or obscure traditions, many times turn 
themselves into prophecies : while the nature 
of man, which coveteth divination, thinks it 
no peril to foretell that which indeed they do 
but collect : as that of Seneca's verse ; for so 
much was then subject to demonstration, that 
the globe of the earth had. great parts beyond; 
the Atlantic, which might be probably con- 
ceived not to be all sea : and, adding thereto 
the tradition in Plato's Timaeus, and his Atlan*^ 
tkusj it might encourage one to turn it to * 



OF AMBtTION. 143 

prediction. The third and last (which is the 
great one) is, that almost all of them, being 
infinite in number, have been impostures, and, 
by idle and crafty brains, merely contrived 
and feigned, after the event passed. 



OF AMBITION. 



Ambition is like cholcr, which is a hu- 
tfiour that maketh men active, earnest, full of 
alacrity, and stirring, if it be not stopped : but 
if it be stopped, and cannot have its way, it 
becometh a dust, and thereby maligti and ven- 
omous : so ambitious men, if they find the 
way open for their rising, and still get forward, 
they are rather busy than dangerous ; but, if 
they be checked in their desires, they become 
secretly discontent, and look upon men and 
-matters wiih an evil eye, and are best pleased 
when things go backward ; which is the worst 
property in a servant of a prince or state : 
therefore it is good for princes, if they use 
ambitious men, to handle it so, as they be still 
progressive, and not retrograde, wdiich, be- 
cause it cannot be without inconvenience, it is 
good not to use such natures at all ; for, if they 
rise not mth their service, they will take order 
to make their ser^^ice fall with them. But 
since we have said, it were good not to use 
men of ambitious natures, except it be upon 
necessity, it is fit we speak in what cases they 
are of ije<:;€S6ity. Good commanders in the 



144 er AMSiifON. 

wars must be taken, be they never so amM-| 
tious; for the use of their ser^ace dispensetLj] 
with the rest ; and to take a soldier ^vithoutil 
ambition is to pull off his spurs. There is a\so% 
great use of embitious men in being screens:^ 
to princes in matters of danger and envy ; for 
no man will take that psrt except he be like a 
sealed dove, that mounts and mounts, because 
he cannot see about him, Tbere is use also 
of ambitious men in pulling down the great-. 
ness cS any subject that overtops ; as Tiberius • 
used Macro in the pulling down of Sejanus. 
Since, therefore, they must be used in such 
cases, there resteth to speak how they are to be. 
riddled, that they may be less dangerous : . 
there is less danger of them if tiiey be of • 
mean birth than if they be noble; and if they; 
be rather harsh of namre than gracious and* 
popular [ and if they be rather new raised, 
than cjrciYn cunning and fortihed in their,, 
greatness. It is counted by some a Yv-eakness 
in princes to have favourites ; but it is, of all 
others, the best remedy against ambitious 
great ones ; for when the vvay of pleasuring,, 
and displeasuring lieth by the favourite, it is 
impossible any gOiqi should be over great/ 
Another means to curb them is, to balance 
them by others as proud as they ; but then 
there must be some middle counsellors, to keep ; 
things steady f for without that ballast the. 
ship will roll too much. At the least, a prince : 
may animate and inure some meaner persons 
to be, as it were, scourgee to ambitious raea. 



or AAiBiL li?:^, 145 

As for the having of them obnoxious to ruin, 
if they be of fearful natures, it may do weii ; 
but if they be stout and daring, it may precip- 
itate their designs, and prove dangerous. As 
.for the pulling of them do^vn, if the affairs 
■require it, and that it may not be done with 
safety suddenly, the oiily way is, the inter- 
-f.haiige continually of favours and disgraces, 
^whereby they may not know what to expect, 
and be, as it were, in a Vv'ood. Of ambitions, 
it is less harmful the ambition to prevail in 
great things, than that other to appear in every 
tiling; lor that breeds confusion, and mars 
business : but yet it is less danger to have an 
ambitious man stirring in business than great 
in dependences. Ke that seeketh to be emi^ 
ncut amongst able men hath a great task ; hut 
that is ever good for the publie : but he that; 
•plots to be the oiily ligi^re a'^iongst ciphers h 
the. decay of a whole age. Hcnour hath three 
things in if; the vantage ground to tlogood; 
,the approach to kings and principal jjersons ; 
ii.i}d the raising of a man's own fortunes. He 
that hath the hc^t of these intentions, when 
he aspirethj is an honest man ; and that prince 
that can discern of these intentions in another 
that aspireih, is a wise prince. Generally let 
princes and states clioosc such ministers aa 
are more sensible of duty than of rlshig, and 
6uch as love busiLiess rather upon coi^science 
thka upon bra"'c:y : and let xilcw dl^eeip 5, 



146 OF MASQUES AND TRIUMPHS* 



OF MASQUES AND TRIUMPHS. 

These things are but toys to come amongst 
such serious observations ; but yet, since 
princes will have such things, it is bett-er they 
should be graced with elegancy than daubeS 
with cost. Dancing to song is a thing of great 
state and pleasure. I understand it that the 
aong be in quire, placed aloft, and accompanied 
with some broken music ; and the ditty fitted 
to the device. Acting in song, especially in 
dialogues, hath an extreme good grace ; I say 
acting, not dancing, (for that is a mean and 
vulgar thing;) and the voices of the dialogue 
would be strong and manly, (a bass and a 
tenor ; no treble,) and the ditty high and trag- 
ical ; not nice or dainty. Several quires 
placed one over against another, and taking 
the voice by catches, anthemwise, give great 
pleasure. Turning dances into figure is 
childish curiosity; and generally let it be 
noted, that those things which I here set 
down are such as do naturally take the sense, 
and not respect petty wonderments. It is true, 
the alterations of scenes, so it be quietly and 
without noise, are things of great beauty and 
pleasure ; for they feed and relieve the eye 
before it be full of the same object. Let the 
scenes abound with light, especially colourec 
and varied ; and let the masquers, or any othei 
that are to come down from the scene, have 



«OF MASQUES AND TRIUMPHS. 147 

some motions upon the scene itself before their 
coming down ; for it draws the eye strangely, 
and makes it with great pleasure to desire to 
see that it cannot perfectly discern. Let the 
songs be loud and cheerful, and not chirpings 
or pulings : let the music likewise be sharp 
and loud, and well placed. The colours that 
show best by candle-light are white, carnation, 
and a kind of sea-water green j and ouches, 
or spangs, as they are of no great cost, so they 
are of most glory. As for rich embroidery, it 
is lost and not discerned. Let the suits of the 
masquers be graceful, and such as become the 
per-son when the vizards are off; not after ex- 
amples of known attires ; Turks, soldiers, 
mariners, and the like. Let anti-masques not 
be long; they have been commonly of fools, 
satyrs, baboons, wild men, antics, beasts, 
spirits, witches, Ethiopes, pigmies, turquets, 
nymphs, rustics, cupids, statues moving, and 
the like. As for angels, it is not comical 
enough to put them in anti-masques : and any 
thing that is hideous, as devils, giants, is, on 
the other side, as unfit ; but, chiefly, let the 
music of them be recreative, and with some 
strange dianges. Some sw^eet odours suddenly 
coming forth, without any drops falling, are, 
in nuch a company as there is steam and heat, 
things of great pleasure and refreshment. 
Double masques, one of men, another of ladies, 
addeth state and variety ; but all is nothing, 
except the room be kept clean and neat 

I . 



OF NATUKt 



For jtists, arid tourneys, and barriers, th6 
glories of them are cliiefiy in the chariots 
wherein the challengers make their entry; 
especially if they be drawn with strange 
beasts : as lions, bears^ camels, and the like ; 
or in the devices of their en Trance, or in 
bravery of their liveries, or in the goodly 
fnrnitiire of their horses and armour. But 
enough of these toys. 



OF NATURE IN MEN. 

Nature is often hidden, sometimes over- 
come, seldom extinguished. Force maketh 
nature more violent in the return ; doctrine 
and discourse maketh nature less importune ; 
but custom only doth alter and subdue nature^ 
He that seeketh victory over his nature, let 
him not set himself too great nor too small 
tasks; for the first will make him dejected 
by often failing, and the second will make 
him a small proceeder, though by often pre- 
vailing : and, at the first, let him practise with 
helps, as swimmers do with bladders or rushes; 
but, after a time, let him practise with disad- 
vantages, as dancers do with thick shoes ; for 
it breeds great perfection if the practice be 
harder than the use. Where nature is mightyj 
and therefore the victory hard, the degrees 
had need be, first, to stay and arrest nature in 
time ; like to him that woqld say over the 



OF NATURE IN MEN. 149 

faur-and-twenty letters ivhen he was angry ; 
then to go less in quantity : as if one should, 
in forbearing wine, come from drinking healths 
to a draught at a meal ; and, lastly, to discon- 
tinue altogether : but if a man have the forti- 
tude and resolution to enfranchise himself at 
once, that is the best : 

" Optimus iile animi vindex, If^danlig pectus 
Vincula qui rupit, dedoluitque semel." 

Neither is the ancient rule amiss, to bend na- 
ture as a wand to a contrary extreme, whereby 
to set it right; understanding it where the 
contrary extreme is no vice. Let not a man 
force a liabit upon himself with a perpetual 
eontinuance, but with some intermission ; for 
both the pause reenforceth the new onset : 
and, if a man that is not perfect be ever in 
practice, he shall as well practise his errors as 
his abilities, and induce one habit of both ; 
and there is no means to help this but by sea- 
sonable intermission : but let not a man trust 
his victory over his nature too far ; for nature 
will lie buried a gi^eat time, and yet revive 
upon the occasion, or temptation ; like as it 
was with iEsop's damsel, turned from a cat to 
a woman, who sat very demurely at the board's 
end till a mouse ran before her : therefore, let 
a man either avoid the occasion altogether, or 
put himself often to it, that he may be little 
moved with it A man's nature is best per- 
ceived in privateness ; for there is no affecta- 
tion in passion ; for thai puttetb a man out of 
13* 



150 OF CUSTOM AN1> LtWAilOts. 

his precepts, and in a new case or experiment, 
for there custom leaveth him. They are hap-^ 
py men whose natures sort with their voca- 
tions; otherwise they may say, "multum 
incola fuit anima mea," \yhen they con- 
verse in those things they do not affect. In 
studies, whatsoever a man commandeth upon 
himself, let him set hours for it ; but whatso- 
ever is agreeable to his nature, let him take no 
care for any set times ; for his thoughts will fly 
to it of themselves, so as the spaces of other 
business or studies will sufHce. A man's 
nature runs either to herbs or weeds : tlierefore, 
let him seasonably water tlie one, and destroy 
the other. 



OF CUSTO^f AND EDUCATION, 

Men's thoughts are much according to 
their inclination ; their discourse and speeches 
according to their learning and infused opin- 
ions ; but their deeds are after as they have 
been accustomed : and, therefore, as Maclii- 
avel well noteth, (though in an ill favoured 
instance,) there is no trusting to the force of 
nature, nor to the bravery of words, except it be 
corroborate by custom. His instance is that, 
for the achieving of a desperate conspiracy, a 
man should not rest upon the fierceness of any 
man's nature, or his resolute undertakings; 
but take such a one as hath had his hands for- 
inerly in blood : but Maohiavel knew not of a 



OF CUSTOM AND EDUCATIOX. 15 j 

friar Clement, nor a Tlaviliac, nor a Jaiireguy, 
nor a Baltazar Gerard ; yet his rule holdeth 
still, that nature, nor the engagement of words, 
are not so forcible as custom. Only supersti- 
tion is now so well advanced, that men of the 
first blood are as firm as butchers by occupa- 
±ion ; and votary resolution is made equipol™ 
lent to custom even in matter of blood. In 
other things, the predominancy of custom is 
every where visible, insomuch as a man 
would wonder to hear men profess, protest, 
engage, give great words, and then do just as 
they have done before, as if they were dead 
images and engines, moved only by the wheels 
of custom. We see also the reign or tyranny 
jpf custom, what it is. The Indians (I mean 
the sect of their wise men) lay themselves 
quietly upon a stack of wood, and so sacrifice 
themselves by fire : nay, the wives strive to 
be burned with the corpse of their husbands. 
The lads of Sparta, of ancient time, were 
%vont to be scoufged upon the altar of Diana, 
without so much as squeaking. I remember, 
in the beginning of queen Elizabeth's time of 
England, an Irish rebel, condemned, put up 
a petition to the deputy that he might be 
hanged in a withe, and not in a halter, 
because it had been so used with former 
rebels. There be monks in Russia, for pen- 
ance, that will sit a whole night in a vessel 
of water, till they be engaged with hard ice. 
Many examples may be put of the force 
of custom, both upon mind and body : there- 



152 OF CUSTOM AND EDUCATION. 

fore, since custom is the principal magis- 
trate of man's life, let men by all means 
endeavour to obtain good customs. Certainly, 
custom is most perfect when it beginneth in 
young years : this we call education, which 
is in effect but an early custom. So we 
see, in languages, the tone is more pliant 
to all expressions and sounds, the joints are 
more supple to ail feats of activity and motions 
in youth, than afterwards ; for it is true, the 
late learners cannot so well take up the ply, 
except it be in some minds that have not suf- 
fered themselves to fix, but have kept them- 
selves opened and prepared to receive contin- 
ual amendment, which is exceeding rare : 
but if the force of custom, simple and sepa- 
rate, be great, the force of custom, copulate 
and conjoined and collegiate, is far greater; 
for their example teach eth, company comfort- 
eth, emulation quickeneth, glory raiseth ; so 
as in such places the force of custom is in its 
exaltation. Certainly, the g" tat multiplication 
of virtues upon human nature resteth upon 
societies well ordained and disciplined ; for 
commonwealths and good governments do 
nourish virtue grown, but do not much mend 
the seeds : but the misery is, that the most 
effectual means are now applied to the ends 
least to be desired. 



OF FORTUNE. 153 



OF FORTUNE. 

It cannot be denied but outward accidents 
conduce much to fortune ; favour, opportunity, 
death of others, occasion fitting virtue : but, 
chieiiy, the mould of a man's fortune is in his 
own hands: " Faber quisque fortune sus," 
saith the poet ; and the most frequent of ex- 
ternal causes is, that the folly of one man is 
the fortune of another ; for no man prospers 
so suddenly as hj others' errors ; '' serpens 
nisi serpentem comederit non sit draco." 
Overt and apparent virtues bring forth praise ; 
but there be secret and hidden virtues that 
bring forth fortune ; certain deliveries of a 
man's self, v/hich have no name. The Span- 
ish name, " disemboltura," partly expresseth 
them, when there be not stands nor restive- 
ness in a man's nature, but that the wheels of 
his mind keep v/ay v, itli the wheels of his 
fortune ; for so Livy (after he had described 
Cato Major in these v/ords, '' in illo viro, tanr 
turn robur corporis et animi fuit, ut quocunque 
loco natus esset, fortunam sibi facturus videre- 
tur,") falleth upon that he had, "versatile 
ingeniiim :" therefore, if a man look sharply 
and attentively, he shall see Fortune ; for 
though she be blind, yet she is not invisible. 
The way of fortune is like the milky way in 
the sky ; which is a meeting, or knot of a 
number of small stars, not seen asunder, bul; 
living light tog€fther : so are there a numheT- 



154 OF FOUTUNE. 

of little and scarce discerned virtues, or rather 
faculties and customs that make men fortunate : 
the Italians note some of them, such as a man 
would little think. When they speak of one 
that cannot do amiss, they will throw it into 
his other conditions, that he hath " Poco di 
raatto ;" and, certainly, there be not two more 
fortunate properties, than to have a little of 
the fool, and not too much of the honest: 
therefore extreme lovers of their country, or 
masters, were never fortunate : neither can 
they be ; for when a man placeth his thoughts 
without himself, he goeth not his own way. 
A hasty fortune maketh an enterpriser and 
remover ; (the French hath it better, " entre- 
prenant," or " remuant ;") but the exercised 
fortune maketh the able man. Fortune is to 
be honoured ^nd respected, and it be but for 
her daughters, Confidence and Reputation ; 
for those two felicity breedeth ; the first within 
a man's self, the latter in others towards him. 
AH wise men, to decline the envy of their 
mvn virtues, use to ascribe them to Provi- 
dence and Fortune ; for so they may the bet^ 
ter assume them : and, besides, it is greatness 
in a man to be the care of the higher powers. 
So Caesar said to the pilot in the tempest, 
" Ceesarem portas, et fortunam ejus." So Syl- 
la chose the name of " felix," and not of 
" magnus :" and it hath been noted, that those 
who ascribe openly too much to their own 
wisdom and policy, end unfortunate. It is 
written- that Timotheus, the Athenian, after 



OF USURY. 155 

he had, in the account he gave to the state of 
his government, often interlaced this speech, 
** And in this fortune had no part," never pros- 
pered in any thing he undertook afterwards. 
Certainly there be whose fortunes are like 
Homer's verses, that have a slide and easi- 
ness more than the verses of other poets ; as 
Plutarch saith of Timoleon's fortune in respect 
of that of Agesilaus, or Epaminondas : and 
that this should be, no doubt it is much in a 
man's self* 

OF USURY. 

Many have made witty invectives against 
usury. They say, that it is pity the devil 
should have God's part, which is the tithe; 
that the usurer is the greatest sabbath breaker, 
because his plough goeth every Sunday ; that 
the usurer is the drone that Virgil speaketh of; 

"Igaavum fucos pecua a praesepibus arcent ;" 

that the usurer breaketh the first law that was 
made for mankind after the fall, which was, " in 
sudore vultus tui comedes panem tuum ;" not 
" in sudore vultus alieni ;" that usurers should 
have orange-tawny bonnets, because they do 
Judaize ; that it is against nature for money to 
beget money, and the like. I say this only, 
that usury is a " concessum propter duritiem 
cordis •" for, since there must be borrowing 
and lending, and men are so hard of heart as 
they will not lend freely, usury must be per- 



156 OF iSJLUi'. 

mitted. Some others have made suspicious 
and curmiiag propositions of banks, discovery 
of men's estates, and other inventions; but 
few have spoken of usury usefully. It is good 
to set before us the incommodities and com- 
modities of usury, that the good may be either 
weighed out, or culled out : and warily to 
provide, that, while we make forth to that 
which is better, we meet not with that which 
is worse. 

The discommodities of usury are, first, that 
it makes few^er merchants ; for, w^ere it not for 
this lazy trade of usury, money would not lie 
still, but it would in great part be employed 
upon merchandising ; v/hich is the " vena 
porta" of wealth in a state : the second, that 
it makes poor merchants ; for, as a farmer can- 
not husband his ground so well if he sit at a 
great rent, so the merchant cannot drive his 
trade so well if he sit at great usury : the 
third is incident to the other two ; and that is. 
the decay of customs of kings, or estates, 
which ebb or flow with merchandising : the 
fourth, that it bringeth the treasure of a realm or 
state into a few hands ; for the usurer being at 
certainties, and the other at uncertainties, at 
the end of the game most of the money will 
be in the box ; and ever a state fiourisheth 
when wealth is more equally spread : the 
fittb, that: it beats down the price of land ; for 
she employment of money is chiefly either 
rjiercbandiiimg^ or purchasing ^ snd niyry way- 
I'V:- bcth - the ^ixth, thn it -^kih d\xU and 



OF rsuRV. 167 

^amp all industries, improvements, and new 
inventions, wherein money would be stirring, 
If it were not for this slug : the last, that it is the 
canker and ruin of many men's estates, which 
in process of time breeds a public poverty* 
\ On the other side, the commodities of usury 
fire, first, that howsoever usury in some respect 
liindereth merchandising, yet in some other it 
advanceth it ; for it is certain that the greatest 
part of trade is driven by young merchants 
upon borrowing at interest ; so as if the usurer 
either call in, or keep back his money, there 
will ensue presently a great stand of trade : 
the second is, that, were it not for this easy 
borrowing upon interest, men's necessities 
would draw upon them a most sudden undo- 
ing, in that they would be forced to sell their 
means (be it land or goods) far under foot, 
and so, whereas usury doth but gnaw upon 
them, bad markets would sv/allovv' them quite 
up. As for mortgaging, or pawning, it will 
little mend the matter : for either men will not 
take pains without use, or, if they do, they 
will look precisely for the forfeiture. I re- 
member a cruel monied man in the country, 
that would say, '^ Tbe devil take this usury, 
it keeps us from forfeitures of mortgages and 
bonds." The third and last is, that it is a 
vanity to conceive tha,t there v/ould be ordi- 
nary borrowing without profit ; and it is im- 
possible to conceive the Dumber of inconve- 
niences that will ensue, if borro'>dng be 
cramped : IhcrefoT^ to sneak of the Rboli^hing 
U 



lo8 OF UvSURY. 

of usury is idle ; all states have ever had it in 
one kind or rate, or other : so as that opinion 
must be sent to Utopia. 

To speak now of the reformation and regle^ 
ment of usury, how the discommodities of >1 
may be best avoided, and the commoditietj 
retained. It appears, by the balance c 
commodities and discommodities of usur 
two things are to be reconciled ; the one th 
the tooth of usury be grinded, that it bite r . 
too much ; the other, that there be left open 
a means to invite monied men to lend to the 
merchants, for the continuing and quickening 
of trade. This cannot be done, except you 
introduce two several sorts of usury, a less 
and a greater ; for, if you reduce usury to one 
low rate, it will ease the common borrower, 
but the merchant will be to seek for money r 
and it is to be noted, that the trade of mer- 
chandise being the most lucrative, may bear 
usury at a good rate : other contracts not so. 

To serve both intentions, the way would be 
briefly thus : that there be two rates of usury ; 
the one free and general for all; the other 
under license only to certain persons, and in 
certain places of merchandising. First, there- 
fore, let usury in general be reduced to five in 
the hundred ; and let that rate be proclaimed 
to be free and current ; and let the state shut 
itself out to take any penalty for the same : 
this will preserve borrowing from any general 
stop or dryness ; this will ease infinite bor- 
rowers in the country; ihh will, in good pat*ty 



OF US L' fir. 15§ 

jfaise file price of land, bec-aiise iaiid purchased 
at sixteen years' piirchase will yield six in the 
hundred, and somewhat more, whereas this 
rate of interest yields but live ; this by like 
reason wiK encourage and edge industrious 
and profitable improvements, because many 
will rather venture in that kind, than take 
3(ive in the hundred, especially having been 
used to greater proMt. Secondly, let there be 
certain persons licensed to lend to known mer- 
-chants upon usury, at a high rate, and let it be 
with the cautions following : let the rate be, 
even with the merchant himself, som.ewhat 
more easy than that he used formerly to 
pay; for by that means all borrowers shall 
iiave some ease by this reformation, be he 
merchant or whosoever : let it be no bank, or 
Common stock, but every man be master 
of his own money; not that I altogether dis- 
like banks, but they vrill hardly be brooked, 
in regard of certain suspicions. Let the state 
be answered some small matter for the 
•license, and the rest left to the lender ; for, 
i[ the abatement be but small, it will no 
whit discourage the lender; for he, for ex- 
ample, that took before ten or riine in the 
hundred, will sooner descend to eight in the 
hundred than give over this trade of usury, 
and go from certain gains to gains of hazard. 
Let these licensed lenders be in number inde- 
finite, but restrained to certain principal cities 
and towns of merchandising ; for then they 
■^^ill be hardly able to . colour other men's 



160 OP YOUTH AM) AG J!. 

moneys in the country : 80 as the license of I 
nine will not suck away the current rate off 
five ; for no man will lend his moneys far off, ^ 
nor put them into unknown hands. 

If it be objected, that this doth in a sort 
authorize usury, which before was in some 
places but permissive ; the answer is, that it 
is better to mitigate usury by declaration than 
to suffer it to rage by connivance. 



OF YOUTH AND AGE. 

A MAN that is young in years may be old in 
hours, if he have lost no time ; but that hap* 
peneth rarely. Generally, youth is like the 
first cogitations, not so wise as the second : 
for there is a youth in thoughts as well as in 
ages ; and yet the invention of young men is 
more lively than that of old, and imaginations 
stream into their minds better, and, as it were, 
more divinely. Natures that have much heat, 
and great and violent desires and perturbations, 
are not ripe for action till they have passed 
the meridian of their years : as it was with 
Julius Csesar and Septimius Severus : of the 
latter of whom it is said, "juventutem egit, 
erroribus, imo furoribus plenam ;" and yet he 
was the ablest emperor, almost, of all the list: 
l)ut reposed natures may do well in youth, aa: 
it is seen in xlugustus Cssar, Cosmes, dukcj 
of Florence, Gaston de Fois, and others. On 
ike, other side, hent end vivacit)' in ao;e is 



or YOUT/I A.\D A«K. lt)l 

; excellent composition for business. Young 
; men are fitter to invent than to judge ; fitter 
for execution than for counsel ; and fitter for 
new projects than for settled business ; for the 
experience of age, in things that fal! within 
the compass of it, directeth them ; but in new 
things abuseth them. The errors of young 
^nen are the ruin of business ; but the errors 
of aged men amount but to this, that more 
might have been done, or sooner. Young 
men, in the conduct and manage of actions, 
embrace more than they can hold ; stir more 
than they can quiet ; fiy to the end, without 
consideration of the meEins and degrees; pur- 
sue some few principles which they have 
chanced upon absurdly ; care not to innovate, 
which draws unknown inconveniences ; use 
extreme remedies at first; and that, which 
doubleth all errors, will not acknowledge or 
retract them, like an unready horse, that will 
neither stop nor turn. Men of age object too 
much, consult too long, adventure too little, 
repent too soon, and seldom drive business 
home to the full period, but content themselves 
with a mediocrity of success. Certainly it is 
^ood to compound employments of both ; for 
that will be good for the present, because the 
virtues of either age may correct the defects 
of both ; and good for succession, that young 
men may be learners, while men in age are 
actors ; and, lastly, good for external accidents, 
because authority foUoweth old men, and 
favour and popularity vouth ; but for the mor^l 
14 * ' 



part, perhaps, youth will have the pre-emi- 
nence, as age hath for the politic. A certain 
rabbin, upon the text, "Your young men 
shall see visions, and your old men shall 
dream dreams," inferreth that young men are 
admitted nearer to God than old, bect'.use 
vision is a clearer revelation than a dream : 
and, certainly, the more a man drinketh of the 
world, the more it inloxicateth : and age doth 
profit rather in the powers of understandings 
than in the virtues of the will and affections. 
There be some have an over-early ripeness in 
their years, which fadeth betimes : these are, 
first, such as have brittle wits, the edge whereof 
is soon turned : such as was Hermogenes the 
rhetorician, whose books are exceeding subtle, 
who afterwards waxed stupid : a second sort 
is of those that have some natural dispositions, 
which have better grace in youth than in age ; 
such as is a fluent and luxurious speech, 
which becomes youth well, but not age : so 
Tully saith of Hortensius, " idem manebat, 
neque idem decebat:" the third is of such as 
take too high a strain at the first, and are 
magnanimous more than tract of years can 
uphold ; as was Scipio Africanus, of whom 
Livy saith in effect, " ultima primis cedebant." 



OF BEAUTY. 



Virtue is like a rich stone, best plain set; 
and surely "virtue is beist in a body that h 



Bl" BKAUTSf. Itt3 

;0omely, though not of deiicaie features ; and 
Itbat hath rather dignity of presence than beau- 
cty of aspect ; neither is it ahiiost seen, that 
very beautiful persons are otherwise of great 
virtue ; as if nature were rather busy not to 
err, than in labour to produce excellency ; and 
therefore they prove accomplished, but not of 
great spirit ; and study rather behaviour than 
virtue. But this holds not always : for Angus-' 
:^ tus Csesar, Titus Ye -^-p? si anus, Philip le Belle 
of France, Edward the Fourth cf Englandj 
Aicibiades of Athens, Ismael the sophy of 
Persia, were all high and great spirits, and yet 
the most beautifiii men of their times. lu 
beauty, that of favour is more than that of 
colour ; and that of decent and gracious mo- 
tion more than that of favour. That is the 
best part of beauty which a picture cannot 
express ; no, nor the first sight of the life. 
There is no excellent beauty that hath not 
some strangeness in the proportion. A man 
cannot tell wdiether Apelles, or Albert Durer, 
were the more trifier ; whereof the one would 
make a personage by geometrical proportions : 
the other, by taking the best parts out of divers 
faces, to make one excellent. Such person- 
ages, I think, v/oold please nobody but the 
painter that made them : not but I think a 
painter m.ay make a better face than ever 
was ; but he must do it by a kind of felicity, 
(as a musician that maketh an excellent air in 
music,) and not by rule. A man shall see 
faces, that, if yoii examine them part by part. 



164 &F DEFOItMlTf. 

you shall find iiever a good ; and yet, altogether, 
do well. If it be true, that the principal part 
of beauty is in decent motion, certainly it is 
no marvel, though persons in years seem many 
times more amiable ; " pulchrorum autumnus 
puleher ;" for no youth can be comely but by 
pardon, and considering the youth as to make 
up the comeliness. Beauty is as summer 
fruits, which are easy to corrupt, and cannot 
last ; and, for the most part, it makes a disso- 
lute youth, and an age a little out of counte- 
nance ; but yet certainly again, if it light well, 
it maketh virtues shine and vices blush. 



OF DEFORMITY. 

Deformed persons are commonly even with 
nature ; for, as nature hath done ill by them, 
so do they by nature, being for the most part 
(as the scripture saith) " void of natural 
affection :" and so they have their revenge of 
nature. Certainly there is a consent between 
the body and the mind, and where Nature 
erreth in the one, she ventureth in the other : 
" ubi peccat in uno, periclitatur in altero :" 
but because there is in man an election, 
touching the frame of his mind, and a neces- 
sity in the frame of his body, the stars of 
natural inclination are sometimes obscured by 
the sun of discipline and virtue ; therefore it d 
is good to consider of deformity, not as a sign i| 
which is more deceivable, but as a cause I 



ip^hich seidoin failetli of the ellect. Who- 
eojEver hath any Ihing iixed iu his person 
that doth induce contempt, hath also a perpet' 
ual spur in himself to rescue and deliver him- 
self from scorn ; therefore, ail deformed per- 
sons are extreme bold ; first, as in their own 
defence, as being exposed to scorn, but in pro- 
cess of time by a general habit. Also it stir- 
reth izi them industry, and especially of tliif^ 
kind, to watch and observe the weakness of 
others, that they may have somewhat to repay. 
Again, in their superiors, it quencheth jealousy 
towards them, as persons that they think they 
may at pleasure despise : and it hiyeth their 
competitors and emulators asleep, as never 
believing they should be in possibility of ad- 
vancement till they see them in possession : 
so that upon the matter, in a great wit, defor- 
mity is an advantage to rising. Kings, in an- 
cient times, (and at this present in some coun- 
tries,) were wont to put great trust in eunuchs, 
because they that are envious towards all are 
more obnoxious and officious tov/ards one ; 
but yet their trust towards them hath rather 
been as to good spials, and good whisperers, 
than good magistrates and ofBcers : and much 
like is the reason of deformed persons. Still 
the ground is, they will, if they be of spirit, 
seek to free themselves from scorn ; which 
must be either by virtue or malice ; and, 
therefore, let it not be marvelled, if sometimes 
they prove excellent persons ; as was Agesi- 
]^M9^ Zanger tlio sor. of Solyman, jEsop^ 



l(Jti OF JBLlLDlNt;. 

Gasca, president of Peru ; and Socrates may 
go likewise amongst them, with others. 



OF BUILDING. 



Houses are built to live in, and not to look 
on ; therefore, let use be preferred before uni- 
formity, except where both may be had. 
Leave the goodly fabrics of houses, for beauty 
only, to the enchanted palaces of the poets, 
who build them with small cost. He that 
builds a fair house upon an ill seat committeth 
himself to prison ; neither do I reckon it an 
ill seat only where the air is unwholsome, but 
likewise where the air is unequal ; as you 
shall see many fine seats set upon a knap of 
ground, environed with higher hills round 
about it, whereby the heat of the sun is pent 
in, and the wind gathereth as in troughs ; so 
as you shall have, and that suddenly, as great 
diversity of heat and cold as if you dwelt in 
several places. Neither is it ill air only that 
maketh an ill seat ; but ill ways, ill markets ; 
and, if you consult with Momus, ill neighbours. 
I speak not of many more ; want of water, 
want of wood, shade, and shelter; want of 
fruitfulness, and mixture of grounds of several 
oatures ; want of prospect, want of level 
grounds, want of places at some near distance 
for sports of hunting, hawking, and races ; too 
near the sea ; too remote ; ha-ving the com- 



J 



OF BUILDING. 167 



modity of navigable riv-ers, or the discom- 
modity of their overflowing ; too far off from, 
great cities, which may hinder business ; or 
I too near them, which lurcheth ail provisions, 
and make th every thing dear; where a maa 
hath a great living laid together, and where he 
is scanted ; all which, as it is impossible per- 
haps to find together, so it is good to know them,, 
and think of them, that a man may take as many 
as he can ; and, if he have several dwellings^ 
that he sort them so, that what he wanteth in 
the one, he may find in the other. Lucullus 
answered Pompey well, who, when he saw 
his stately galleries and rooms so large and 
lightsome, in one of his houses, said, " Surely 
an excellent place for summer, but how do 
you in winter ?" Lucullus answered, " Why^ 
do you not think me as wise as some fools are, 
that ever change their abode towards the 
winter ?" 

To pass from the seat to the house itself, we 
will do as Cicero doth in the orator's art, who 
writes books De Oratore, and a book he enti- 
tles Orator; whereof the former delivers the 
precepts of the art, and the latter the perfec- 
tion. We will therefore describe a princely 
palace, making a brief model thereof: for it is 
strange to see, now, in Europe, such huge 
buildings as the Vatican and the Escurial, and 
some others be, and yet scarce a very fair 
room in them. 

First, therefore, I say, you cannot have a 
perfect palncc, except yo\i hc!^'c t^\o several 



16S *n- suiLiiJNG. m^ 

sides ; a side for tlie banquet, as is spoken ' 
of in the book of Esther, and a side for the 
household ; the one for feasts and triumphs,- 
and the other for dweiiing. I understand 
both these sides to be not only returns, but 
parts of the front ; and to be uniform without, 
though severally partitioned within ; and to 
he on both sides of a great and stately tower 
in the midst of the front, that, as it were, join- 
eth them together on either hand. I would 
have, on the side of the banquet in front, 
one only goodly room above stairs, of some 
forty foot high ; and under it a room for 
a dressing, or preparing place, at times of tri- 
umphs. On the other side, which is the 
household side, I wish it divided at the first 
into a hail and a chapel, (vvith a partition be- 
tween,) both of good state and bigness; and 
those not to go all the length, bat to have at 
the farther end a winter and a summer par- 
lour, both fair ; and under these rooms a fair 
and large cellar sunk under ground; and like- 
wise some privy kitchens, with butteries and 
pantries, and the like. As for the tower, I 
would have it two stories, of eighteen foot 
high apiece above the two wings ; and goodly 
leads upon the top, railed with statues inter- 
posed ; and the same tower to be divided into 
rooms, as shall be thought fit. The stairs, 
likewise, to. the upper rooms, let them be upon 
a fair and open newel, and finely railed in with 
images of wood cast into a brass colour ; and 
^ Fen- fair landing-plrvce at the top. But this 



OF BL'lLUiiVG. ' 169- 

to be, if you do not point any of the lowei" 
rooms for a dining place of servants ; for, 
Otherwise, you shall have the servants' dinner 
after your own : for the steam of it will come 
up as in a tunnel ; and so much for the front : 
only I understand the height of the first stairs 
to be sixteen foot, which is the height of the 
lower room. 

Beyond this front is there to be a fair court, 
but three sides of it of a far lower building than 
the front ; and in all the four corners of that 
court fair staircases, cast into turrets on the out- 
ride, and not within the row- of buildings them- 
selves : but those towers are not to be of the 
height of the front, but rather proportionable to 
the low-er building. Let the court not be pav- 
ed, for that strikeih up a great heat in summer, 
and much cold in winter : but only some side 
alleys with a cross, and the quarters to graze, 
'leing kept sliorii, but not too near shorn. The 
row of return c:i the banquet side, let it be 
all stately galleries ; in wl^ich galleries let 
there be three or five iiiie cupolas in the length 
of it, placed at equal distance, and fme col- 
oured windows of several works: on the 
household side, ehambers of presence and 
ordinary entertainments, w itli some bed-cham- 
bers : and let all three sides be a double 
house, without thorough lights on the sideSy 
that you may have rooms fi'om the sun, both 
for forenoon and afternoon. Cast it also, 
that you may have rooms both for summer 
gnd winter; shady for summer and warm 



176 0> BUILDING. 

for winter. You shall have sometimes fair 1 
houses so full of glass, that one cannot tell i 
where to become to be out of the sun or cold* jli 
For embowed windows^ I hold them of good ,if 
use \ (in cities, indeed, upright do better, in 
respect of uniformity towards the street ;) for 
they be pretty retiiing places for conference ; 
and, besides, they keep both the wind and sun 
off; for that which would strike almost 
through the room doth scarce pass the win- 
dow : but let them be but few^, four in the 
cottrtj on the sides only. 

Beyond this court, let there be an inward 
court, ^f the same square and height, which 
is to be environed with the garden on all 
sides; and in the iliside, cloistered on all 
sides upon decent atid beautiful arches, as 
high as the first story :■ on the under story, 
towards the garden, let it be turned to a grotto, 
or place of shade, or estivation; and only 
have opening and windows towards the gar- 
den, and be level upon the floor, no whit sunk 
finder ground, to avoid all dampishness : and let 
there be a fountain, or some fair work of stat- 
ues, in the midst of the court, and to be paved 
as the other court was. These buildings to be 
for privy lodgings on both sides, and the end 
for privy galleries : whereof you must foresee 
that one of them be for an infirmary, if the 
prince or any special person should be sick, 
. "with chambers, bed-chamber, " antecamera," 
and " recamera," joining to it : this upon the 
second story. Upon the ground story, a fair 



OF GARDENS. 171 

jpon pillars ; and upon the 
^ewise, an open gallery^ upon pil- 
ilars, to take the prospect and freshness of the 
garden. At both corners of the farther side, 
by way of return, let there be two delicate or 
irich cabinets, daintily paved, richly hanged, 
glazed with crystalline glass, and a rich cupola 
in the midst ; and all other elegancy that may 
be thought upon. In the upper gallery too, I 
wish that there may be, if the place will yield 
it, some fountains running in divers places 
from the wall, with some fine avoidances, 
And thus much for the model of the palace ; 
save that you must have, before you come to 
the front, three courts ; a green court plain, 
with a wall about it ; a second court of the 
same, but more garnished with little turrets, 
or rather embellishments, upon the wall ; and 
a third court, to make a square with the front, 
but not to be built, nor yet enclosed with a 
naked wall, but enclosed with terraces leaded 
aloft, and fairly garnished on the three sides ; 
and cloistered on the inside with pillars, and 
not with arches below. As for offices, let 
them stand at distance, with some low galle-^ 
lies to pass from them to the palace itself. 



OF GARDENS. 



God Almighty first planted a garden ; and, 
indeed, it is the purest of human pleasures ; it 
is the greatest refreshment to the spirit*^ of 



I 



172 OF GAllDESS. 

man; witliout which biiiidiiigs and palaces 
are but gross handiworks : and a man sliall 
e^er see, that, w^hen ages grow to civility an^ 
elegancy, men come to build sta,tely, soone 
than to garden finely ; as if gardening were' 
the greater perfection. I do hold it, in the 
royal ordering of gardens, there ought to 
gardens for all the months in the year, 
which, severally, things of beauty may be 
then in season. For December and January, 
and the latter part of November, you must, 
take such things as are green all winter; holly, 1 
ivy, bays, juniper, cypress trees, yew, pines,'? 
lir trees, rosemary, lavender ; periwinkle, the 
white, the purple, and the blue; germander, 
jSag, orange trees, lemon trees^ and myrtles, if 
they be stoved ; and sweet marjoram, warm 
set. There followeth, for the latter part of 
January and February, the mezeron tree, 
which then blossoms ; crocus vermis, both the 
yellow and the gray ; primroses, anemones, 
the early tulip, the hyacinthus, orientalis, 
chamaVris fritellarla. For March there come 
violets, especially the single blue, which are 
the earliest ; the early daffodil, the daisy, the 
almond tree in blossom, the peach tree in bios- t? 
som, the cornelian tree in blossom, sweetbriar. i 
In April follow the double w^hite violet, the | 
wallflower, the stock gilliflower, the cowslip, 
Hower-de-luces, and lilies of all natures ; 
rosemary flowers, the tulip, the double peony, I 
the pale daffodil, the French honey-suckle,] 
-the cherry tree in blossom, the damajscene and! 



or GARDENS. 173 

plum trees in blossom, the white thorn in leaf, 
the lilach tree. In May and June come pinks 
of all sorts, especially the blush pink ; roses 
of all kinds, except the musk, which comes 
later; honey-suckles, strawberries, bugloss, 
columbine, the French marigold, flos Africa- 
nus, cherry tree in fruit, ribes, figs in fruit, 
rasps, vine-flowers, lavender in flowers, the 
sw^et satyrian, with the white flower ; herba 
muscaria lilium convallium, the apple tree in 
blossom. In July eome gilliflowers of all 
varieties, musk-roses, the lime tree in blossom, 
early pears, and plums in fruit, gennitings, 
codlins. In August come plums of all sorts 
in fruit, pears, apricots, berberries, filberds, 
musk-mellons, monks-hoods of all colours. 
In September come grapes, apples, poppies of 
all colours, peaches, melocotones, nectarines, 
cornelians, wardens, quinces. In October and 
the beginning of November come services, 
medlars, bullaces, roses cut or removed to 
come late, hollyoaks, and such like. These 
particulars are for the climate of London • but 
my meaning is perceived, that you may have 
" ver perpetuum," as the place affords. 

And because the breath of flowers is far 
sweeter in the air, where it comesi and goes, 
(like the warbling of music,) than in the 
hand, therefore nothing is more fit for that 
delight than to know what be the flowers and 
plants that do best perfume the air. Roses, 
damask and red, are fast flowers of their 
smells ; so that you may walk by a whole row 
15* 



174 OF GAIIDENS. 

of tliem, and lind notiiiiig of their sweetness ; 
yea, though it be in a morning's dew. Bays, 
likewise, yield no smell as they grow, rose- 
mary little, nor sweet marjoram ; that which, 
above all others, yields the sweetest smell in : 
the air, is the violet, especially the v/hite 
double violet, which comes twice a year, about 
the middle of April, and about Bartholomew- 
tide. Next to that is the musk-rose ; then the 
strawberry leaves dying, with a most excellent 
cordial smell ; then the ilower of the vines, it is 
a little dust like the dust of a bent, which grows 
upon the cluster in the first coming forth ; then 
sweetbriars, then wallflowers, which are very 
delightful to be set under a parlour or lower 
chamber v^indow ; then pinks and gilliflowers, 
especially the matted pink and clove-gilll- 
flower; Ihen the flov/ers of the lime tree; 
then the honey-suckles, so they be somewhat 
afar off. Of bean-flowers I speak not, be- 
cause they are field flowers ; but those w^hich 
perfume the air most delightfully, not passed by 
as the rest, but being trodden upon and crush- 
ed, are three ; that is, burnet, wild thyme, 
and Yfatermiuts ; therefore, you are to set 
whole alleys of them, to have the pleasure 
wlien you walk or tread. 

For gardens, (speaking of those which are, 
indeed, princelike, as we have done of build- 
ings,) the contents ought not well to be under 
thirty acres of ground, and to be divided into 
three parts ; a green in the entrance, a heath 
or desert in the going forth, and the main gat- 



or uAi^-ni^Ns. 17.> 

^n in the midst, besides alleys on budx side3 ; 
and I like well that four acres of ground be 
assigned to the green, six to the heath, four 
^and four to either side, and twelve to the mPwu 
garden. The green hath two pleasures : the 
one, because nothing is more pleasant to the 
eye than green grass kept finely shorn ; the 
other, because it will give you a fair alley in 
the midst, by which you may go in front upon 
a stately hedge, which is to enclose the gar- 
den ; but because the eJley will be long, and, 
in grea.t heat of the ^vear, or day, you o-jglit 
not to buy the shade in the garden by going 
in the sun through the green ; therefore you 
are, of either siJe the green, to plant a covert 
alley, upon carpenter's v/ork, about twelve 
foot in height, by wdiich you may go in shade 
into the garden. As for the making of knots, 
ox figures, wuth divers coloured earths, that 
they may lie under the windows of the house 
on that side on which the garden stands, the^r 
be but toys : you may see as good sights manyi 
tiincs in tarts. *The garden is best to be 
>;quare, encompassed on all the four sides v>dtli 
a stately arched hedge ; the arches to be upon 
pillars of carpenter's w^ork, of some ten foot 
high, and six foot broad, and the spaces between 
of the same dimensions with the breadth of the 
arch. Over the arches let there be an entire 
hedge of some four foot high, framed also upon 
carpenter's work ; and upon the other hedge- 
over every arch, a little turnet, with a belly 
^nough to receive a cage of birds : and oTer 



176 OP GARDEN'S. 

every space between the arches some oth^r 
little figure, with broad plates of round col- 
oured glass gilt for the sun to play upon : but 
this hedge I intend to be raised upon a bank, 
not steep, but gently slope, of some six foot, 
set all with flowers. Also I understand, that 
this square of the garden should not be the 
whole breadth of the ground, but to leave on 
either side ground enough for diversity of side 
alleys, unto which the two covert alleys of 
the green may deliver you ; but there must be 
no alleys with hedges at either end of this 
great enclosure ; not at the hither end, for let- 
ting your prospect upon this fair hedge from 
the green ; nor at the farther end, for letting 
your prospect from the hedge through the 
arches upon the heath. 

For the ordering of the ground within the 
great hedge, I leave it to variety of device; 
advising, nevertheless, that whatsoever form 
you cast it into first, it be not too busy or fiill 
of work ; wherein I, for my part, do not like 
images cut out in juniper or other garden stuff; 
they be for children. Little low hedges, like 
round welts, with some pretty pyramids, I like 
well ; and in some places fair columns, upon 
frames of carpenter's work. I would also 
have the alleys spacious and fair. You may 
have closer alleys upon the side grounds, but 
none in the main garden. I wish also, in the 
very middle, a fair mount, with three ascents 
and alleys, enough for four to walk abreast ; 
which I would have to be perfect circles, 



'ivithoiit any bulwarks or 02nbo.ssinei;i- ; and 
the whole mount to be tliirly feet hi^Ii, and 
some fine banqueting house, with some chim- 
neys neatly cast, and without loo much glass. 
For fountains, they are a great beauty and 
refreshment ; but pools mar all, and make th^ 
garden unwholsome, and full of Hies and frogs. 
Fountains I intend to be of two natures ; l]:e 
one that sprinkleth or spouteth v;atcr: the 
other a fair receipt of %Yater, of some thir(y or 
forty feet square, but without fish, or slime, cr 
inud. For the first^ the ornaments of images, 
gilt or of marble, which are in use, do well : 
but the main matter is so to convey the 
water, as it never stay, either in the bowls 
or in the cistern: that the water be never 
hy rest discoloured, green or red, or the 
like, or gather any niossiness or putrefac- 
tion ; besides that, it is to be cleansed every 
day by the hand : also some steps up to ity 
and some fine pavement about it do well. Aa 
for the other kind of fountain, which w^e may 
call a bathing pool, it may admit much curios- 
ity and beauty, wherewith we y.ili not trouble 
ourselves : as, that the bottom be finely paved, 
and with images; the sides likewise; and 
withal embellished with coloured glass, and 
such tilings of lustre ; encompassed also with 
fme rails of low statues : but the main poin^ 
is the same which we mentioned in the for- 
mer kind of fountain ; y.hich is, that the w^a^er 
be in perpetual motio:;., fed by a water higher 



178 OF gardi:n«. 

than the pool, and delivered into it by lair 
spouts, and then discharged away under 
ground, by some equality of bores, that it stay 
little ; and for fine devices, of arching vt^ater 
without spilling, and making it rise in several 
forms, (of feathers, drinking glasses, canopies, 
and the like,) they be pretty things to look 
on, but nothing to health and sweetness. 

For the heath, which was the third part of 
our plot, I wished it to be framed as much as 
may be to a natural wildness. Trees, I would 
have none in it, but some thickets made only 
of sweetbriar and honey-suckle, and some 
wild vine amongst; and the ground set \vith 
violets, strawberries, and primroses; for 
these are sweet, and prosper in the shade ; 
and these are to be in the heath here and 
there, not in any order. I like also little 
heaps, in the nature of mole-hills, (such as 
are in wild heaths,) to be set, some with wild 
thyme, some with pinks, some with german- 
der, that gives a good flov/er to the eye ; some 
with periwinkle, some with violets, some with 
strawberries, some with cowslips, some with 
daisies, some with red roses, some with lilium 
convallium, some with sweet-williams red, some 
with bear's-foot, and the like low flowers, 
being withal sweet and sightly : part of 
which heaps to be with standards of little 
bushes pricked upon their top, and part 
without: the standards to be roses, juniper, 
holly, berberries, (but here and there because 



OF WAHDIJ^S. l79 

of the siiiell of their blossoms,) red cunants, 
gooseberries, rosemary, bays, sweetbriar, and 
such like ; but these standards to be kept with 
cutting, that they grow not out of course. 

For the side grounds, you are to fill them 
with variety of alleys, private, to give a full 
ishade ;' some of them wheresoever the sun 
be. You are to frame some of them likewise 
for shelter, that, -when the wind blows sharp, 
you may walk as in a gallery : and those 
alleys must be likewise hedged at both ends 
to keep out the wind ; and these closer alleys 
must be ever finely gravelled, and no grass, be- 
cause of going wet. In many of these alleys, 
likewise, you are to set fruit-trees of all sorts, 
as well upon the walls as in ranges ; and this 
should be generally observed, that the borders 
wherein you plant your fruit-trees be fair, and 
large, and low, and not steep ; and set with 
fine flowers, but thin and sparingly, lest they 
deceive the trees. At the end of both the 
side grounds I would have a mount of some 
pretty height, leaving the wall of the enclo- 
sure breast-high, to look abroad into the fields. 

For the main garden, I do not deny but 
there should be some fair alleys ranged on 
both sides, with fruit-trees, and some pretty 
tufts of fruit-trees, and arbours with seats, set 
in some decent order ; but these to be by no 
means set too thick, but to leave the main gar- 
den so as it be not close, but the air open and 
free. For as for shade, 1 would have you rest 
upon the alleys of the side grounds, there 



rb'/ OF NEGOTIATlXCr, 

to walk, if you be disposed, in the lieat of 
the year or day ; but to make account that the 
main garden is for the more temperate parts 
of the year, and, in the heat of summer, for 
the morning and the evening, or overcast 
-:l?.v^. 

For aviaries, I like them not, escept they 
. 2 of thr.t largeness as Ihey may be tnrfedj, 
.1 : living plants o:id bushes set in them ; 
i!). . /. ' c'l dj r.-dv hr.vc more scope and natn- 
:i'l L I . « ^1 :\ lint no foulness o.ppear on 
t'io ::.o. .1 .L-aviziry. 

H'j 1 huve made a phViform of a princely 
i^c.Tdciij partly by pveccpt, partly by drawing ; 
lata model, but eoine general lines of it; and 
^ foT no cost : but it 
:c3, that, for the most 
L workmen, with no 
ogether; and some- 
^;ich things, for state 
nothing to the true 



It is gensrally better to deal by speech than 
by letter ; and by the mediation of a third 
than by a man-R :ielL Loiters are good, when 
a man would draw an an'r^ver by letter bacfc 
again; or when it may sei7e for a man's jus- 
tification afterwards toprodoce his own letter; 
or where it mvA^'be- in dan^or to be interrupted 



in ill is I ha-- 


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spa 


i"ed 


is nodiing fjr 


o\ 


cat 


y/y. 


pari, taking a 1 


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ICGS C03t -Ct t 




.r :ii 




limos aj. ' ^ 


-ll 


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a;id mno^^,.:: 


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o:;t 



^¥ NEGOTIATING. 181 

tft heard by pieces. To deal in person is 
good, when a man's face breedeth regard, as 
commonly with inferiors ; er in tender cases, 
where a man's eye upon the countenance of 
him with whom he speaketh, may give him a 
direction how far to go ; and, generally, where 
a man will reserve to himself liberty, either 
to disavow or expound. In choice of instru- 
ments., it is better to choose men of a plainer 
sort, that are like to do that that is committed 
to them, and to report back again faithfully 
the success, than those that are cunning to 
contrive out of other men's business some- 
what to grace themselves, and will help the 
matter in report, for satisfaction sake. Use 
•ulso such persons as effect the business where^ 
in they are employed, for that quickenetU 
mvich ; and such as are fit for the matter, as 
hold men for expostulation, fair-spoken men 
lor persuasion, crafty men for inquiry and ob- 
servation, froward and absurd m^n for busi- 
ness that doth not well bear out itself. Use 
aiso such as have been lucky, and prevailed 
before in things wherein you have employed 
them ; for that breeds conlidence, and they 
vnll strive to maintain their prescription. It 
is better to sound a person with whom ono 
deals afar, off, than to fail upon the point st 
lirst ; except yon mean to , surprise him by 
^ojiie sho:rtqu^tio^n. It ig beUer dealing with 
m^ in a^ppetitej thap ^vitb those that are where 
i;aa5' 'J^^tmld ba. Jf a.mari deal witli anotjier 
i^^^dG <t5nditioE^ the start c-f fir^t t-siforxs.'mc^ f? 
IP 



182 OF FOLLOWERS AND FRfENDS. 

all : which a man cannot reasonably demand, 
except either the nature of the thing be such 
which must go before; or else a man can 
persuade tlie other party, that he shall still 
need him in some other thing; or else that be 
be counted the honester man. All practice is 
to discover, or to work. Men discover there- 
selves in trust, in passion, at unawares ; and 
of necessity, when they would have somewhat 
done, and cannot find an apt pretext. If you 
would work any man, you must either know 
his nature or fashions, and so lead him ; or his 
ends, and so persuade him ; or his v/eakness 
and disadvantages, and so awe him ; or those 
that have interest in him, and so govern him. 
In dealing with cunning persons, we must 
ever consider their ends to interpret their 
speeches ; and it h good to sty little to them, 
and that Vi^hich they least look for. In ail ne- 
gotiations of difficulty, a man may not look to 
sow and reap at once ; but must prepare busi- 
nesSj and so ripen it by degrees. 



OF FOLLOWERS AND FRIENDS. 

Costly followers are not to be liked ; kst, 
while a man raaketh his train longer, he make 
his wings shorter. I reckon to be costly, not 
them alone which ohatge the purse, but which 
are wearisome anil in^portiine in suits. Ordi- i 
nary followers ought to challenge no higher i 
oonditioas tbr.r. countenance, rec<>BQmendatioD^ I 



or fOJ-LOV?ER3 ANiJ fRIENDs. 183 

^diil protection from wrongs. Factious fol- 
lowers are worse to be liked j which follow 
not upon afi'ection to liira, with whom they 
range themselves, but upon disccntentmeiji 
conceived against some other ; ^^ hereupon 
commonly ensueth that ill intelligence that we 
many times see between great personagts. 
Likewise glorious followers, who make them- 
selves as trumpets of the commendation of 
those they follow, are full of incouveniencej 
for they taint business through want of secre- 
cy ; and they export honour from a man, and 
make him a return in envy. There is a kind 
of followers, likewise, which are dangerous, 
being indeed espials ; whicli inquire the 
secrets of the house, and bear tales of them 
to others ; yet such men, many times, are ia 
great favour ; for they are officious, and com- 
monly exchange tales. The follovring by 
certain estates of men, answerable to that 
w^hich a great man himself professeth, (as of 
soldiers to him tliat hath been employed in the 
wars, and the like,) hath ever been a thing 
civil, and well taken even in monarchies, so it 
be without too much pomp or popularity : but 
the most honourable kind of following is, to 
be followed as one that apprehendetli to ad- 
vance virtue and desert in all sorts of persons ; 
and yet, where there is no eminent odds in 
sufficiency, it is better to take' with the more 
passable than with the more able ; and, be- 
sides, to speak truth in base times, active men 
^re of more uae than virliiouji.. It is ti'U^ 



that in government, it is good to use men of 
one rank equally : for to countenance some 
extraordinarily, is to make them insolent, and 
the rest discontent ; because they may claini 
a due: but contrariwise in favour, to use men 
with much difference and election iy good ; 
for it maketh the person preferred more thank- 
ful, and the rest more officious ; because all is 
of favour. It is good discretion not to n)ake 
too much of any man at the first ; because one 
cannot hold out that proportion. To be gov- 
erned (as we call it) by one is not safe; for 
it shows softness, and gives a freedom to 
scandal and disreputation ; for those that 
would not censure, or speak ill of a man im- 
Kiediately, will talk more boldly of those that ': 
are so great with them, and thereby wound 
their honour ; yet to be distracted with many 
is Worse ; for it makes men to be of the last 
impression, and full of change. To take 
advice of some few friends is ever honoura- 
ble ; for lookers-on many times see more than 
gamesters ; and the vale best discovereth the 
hill. There is little friendship in the world, 
and least of all between equals, which was 
wont to be magnified. That that is, is be- 
tween superior and inferior, whose fortunes 
may comprehend the one the other. 



«fF SVITOSUi. i!3$ 



OF SUITORa 



Many ill matters and projects are under- 
taken ; and private suits da putrefy the public 
good. Many good matters are undertaken 
with bad minds ; I mean not only corrupt 
minds, but erai\y minds, that intend not per- 
formance. Some embrace suits which never 
mean to deal effectually in them ; but if tJiey 
see tbere may be life in the matter, by some 
otlier mean^ they will be content to win a 
!thank, or take a second reward, or, at least, 
to make use in the mean time of the suitor's 
topes. Some take hold of suits only for an 
occasion to cross some other, or to make an 
information, whereof they could not otherwise 
have apt pretext, without care what become 
of the suit when the turn is served ; or, gen-- 
erally, to make other men's business a kind 
of entertainment to bring in their own : nay, 
some undertake suits with a full purpose to let 
them fall ; to the end to gratify the adverse 
party or competitor. Surely there is in some 
sort a right in every suit ; either a right of 
equity, if it be a suit of controversy; or a 
right of desert, if it be a suit of petition. If 
laffection lead a man to favour the wrong side 
injustice, let him rather use his countenance 
to compound the matter than to carry it If 
nffection lead a man to favour the less worthy in 
desert, let him do it without depraving or dis- 
abling the better deserver. In suits which » 



186 or ^unos*. 

jaan doth not well understand, it is good i6 
refer them to some friend of trust and judg- 
ment, that may report whether he may deal 
in them with honour : but let him choose 
well his referendaries, for else he may be led 
by the nose. Suitors are so distasted with 
delays and abuses, that plain dealing in deny- 
ing to deal in suits at first, and reporting tlic 
success barely, and in challenging no moro 
thanks than one hath deserved, is grown not 
crily honourable, but also gracious. In suits 
of favour, the first coming ought to take little 
place ; so far forth consideration may be had 
oi his trust, tliat if intelligence of the matter 
could not otherwise have been had but by him, 
advantage be not taken of the note, but the 
party left to his other means ; and in some 
sort recompensed for his discovery. To be 
ignorant of the value of a suit is simplicity; 
as well to be ignorant of the right thereof is 
want of conscience. Secrecy in suits is a 
great m.ean of obtaining ; for voicing them id 
be in forwardness may discourage some kind of 
suitors ; but doth quicken and awake others ; 
but timing of the suit is the principle ; timing^ 
1 say, not only in respect of the person who> 
should grant it, but in respect of those which 
are like to cross it. Let a man, in the choice 
of his mean, rather choose the fittest mean 
than the greatest mean ; and rather them 
that deal in certain things than those that are 
general. The reparation of a denial is some- 
iimos equal to the first graat-, if o man show 



himseU' neither dejected nor discontented. 
" Iniquum petas, ut aequum feras," is a good 
rule, where a man hath strength of favour : 
but otherwise, a man were better rise in his 
suit; i'or he that would have ventured at first 
to have lost the suitor, will not, in the conclu- 
sion, lose both the suitor and his own former 
favour. Nothing is thought so easy a request 
to a great person as his letter ; and yet, if it be 
not in a good cause, it is so much out of his 
reputation. There are no worse instruments 
than these general contrivers of suits ; for 
they are but a kind of poison and infection to 
public proceeding. 



OF STUDIES. 



Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and 
for ability. , Their chief use for delight is in 
privateness and retiring ; for ornament, is in 
discourse ; and for ability, is in the judg- 
ment and disposition of business ; for expert 
men can execute, and perhaps judge of par- 
ticulars one by one : biit the general counsels, 
and the plots and marshalling of affairs, come 
best from those that are learned. To spend 
too much time in studies is sloth ; to use them 
too much for ornament is affectation ; to make 
judgnient wholly by their rules is the humour 
of a scholar : they perfect nature, and are 
perfected by experience : for natural abilities 
«re like natural plants, that need pruning b^ 



18^ OF srvDivm. 

study; and studies themselves do gi?e fortlir 
directions too much at large, except they 
bounded in by experience. Crafty men con- 
temn studies, simple men admire, and wise 
men use them ; for they teach not their own 
use ; but that is a wisdom without them, and 
above them, won by observation. Read not 1 
to contradict and confute, nor to believe and 
take for granted, nor to lind talk and discoursej 
but to weigh and consider. Some books are 
to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some 
few to he chewed and digested ; that is, some 
books are to be read only in parts ; others to 
be read, but not curiously ; and some few to 
be read wholly, and with diligence and atten- 
tion. Some books also may be read by dep- 
uty, and extracts made of them by others; 
but that would be only in the less important 
arguments, and the meaner sort of books; 
else distilled books are, like common distilled 
waters, flashy things. Reading maketh a full 
man ; conference a ready man ; and Writing an 
exact man ; and, therefore,, if a man write lit- 
tle, he had need have a great memory : if he 
confer little, he had need have a present wit : 
and if he read little, he had need have much 
cunning, to seem to know that he doth not. 
Histories make men wise ; poets witty ; the 
mathematics subtile ; natural philosophy deep j 
moral, grave ; logic and rhetoric, able to con- 
tend ; " Abeunt studia in mores ;" nay, there 
is no stand or impediment in the wit, but may 
be wrought out by fit studies : like as disease* 



6F FACtioN.. 15f^ 

of the body may have appropriate exercises j 
bowling is good for the stone and reins, shoot' 
ing for the lungs and breast, gentle walking 
for the stomach, riding for the head, and the 
like ; so, if a man's wits be wandering, let 
him study the mathematics, for in demonstra- 
tions, if his wit be called away never so little, 
he must begin again ; if his wit be not apt to 
distinguish or find differences, let him study 
the schoolmen, for they are " Cymini sec- 
tores ;" if he be not apt to beat over matters, 
and to call upon one thing to prove and illus- 
trate another, let him study the lawyers' cases ; 
so every defect of the mind may have a spe- 
cial receipt 



OF FACTION. 



Many have an opinion not wise, that for a 
prince to govern his estate, or for a great per- 
son to govern his proceedings, according to 
the respect to factions, is a principal part of 
policy ; v/hereas, contrariwise, the chiefest 
wisdom- is, either in ordering those things 
which are general, and wherein men of several 
factions do nevertheless agree, or in dealing 
with correspondence to particular persons, one 
by one : but I say not, that the consideration 
of factions is to be neglected. Mean men, in 
their rising, must adhere ; but great men, that 
have strength in themselves, were better to 
maintain themselves indifferent and neutral ; 
yet f ven in beginners, to adhere so moderetclvj 



l^t) OV FACTIOK, 

as he be a man of the one faction, which U^ 
most passable with the other, commonly givelh 
best way. The lower and weaker faction is 
the firmer in conjunction ; and it is often seen 
that a few that are stiff do tire out a greater 
number that are more moderate. When one 
of the factions is extinguished, the remaining 
subdiviaeth ; as the faction between Lucuilus 
and the rest of the nobles of the senate 
(which they called " optimates") held out 
awhile against the faction of Pom.pey and 
Ccesar ; but when the senate's authority wa3 
pulled down, Caesar and Pompey soon after 
brake. The faction or party of Antonius and 
Octavianus Csesar, against Brutus and Cassius, 
held out likewise for a time ; but when Brutus 
and Cassius were overthrown, then soon after 
Antonius and Octavianus brake and subdivided. 
These examples are of wars, but the same 
holdeth in private factions : and, therefore, 
those, that are seconds in factions, do many 
times, when the faction subdivideth, prove 
principals ; but many times also they prove 
ciphers and cashiered ; for many a man's 
strength is in opposition ; and w^hen that fail- 
eth, he grovv^eth out of use. It is commonly 
seen that men once placed, take in with the 
contrary faction to that by which they enter : 
thinking, belike, that they have their first sure, 
and now are ready for a new purchase. The 
traitor in faction lightly goeth away with it, for 
when matters have stuck long in balancing, 
the winning of some one mao casteth them, 



OP CEREMOMliS A.Vt) RESPECTS. 191 

and he getteth all the thanks. The even car- 
riage between two factions proceedeth not 
always of moderation, but of a trueness to a 
man's telf, with end to make use of both. 
Certainly, in Italy, they hold it a little suspect 
in popes, when they have often in their mouth 
*' Padre commune :" and take it to be a sign 
of one that meaueth to refer all to the great- 
ness of his own house*. Kings had need be- 
ware how they side themselves, and make 
themselves as of a faction or party ; for leagues 
Vvichin the state are ever pernicious to monar- 
chies ; for they raise an obligation paramount 
to obligation of sovereignty, and make the 
king "tanquam unus ex nobis ;" as was to be 
eeen in the league of France. When factions 
are carried too high and too violently, it is a 
gign of weakness in princes, and much to the 
prejudice both of their authority and business. 
The motions of factions under kings ought to 
be like the motioiis (as the astronomers speak) 
of the inferior orbs, which may have their 
proper motions, hut 3'et still are quietly carried 
by the higher motion of "primum mobile." 



OF CEREMONIES AND RESPECI^. 

He that is only real had need have exceed- 
ing great parts of virtue; as the stone had 
Bced to be rich that is set without foil : but if 
li man mark It well, it is in praise and commen- 
ts ntipn of TUfTi, as it is in gettings and gains: 



19'2 OF CEKEMOMES AND RESPECTS. 

for the proverb is true, " that light gains make 
heavy purses ;" for light gains come thick, 
whereas great come but now and then : so it 
is true, that small matters win great commen- 
dation, because they are continually in use and 
in note : whereas the occasion of any great 
virtue cometh but on festivals : therefore it 
doth much add to a man's reputation, and is 
(as queen Isabella said) like perpetual letters 
commendatory, to have good forms : to attain 
them, it almost sufficeth not to despise them ; 
for so shall a man observe them in others ; and 
let him trust himself with the rest ; for if he 
labour too much to express them, he shall lose 
their grace ; which is to be natural and unaf- 
fected. Some men's behaviour is like a verse, 
wherein every syllable is measured; how can 
a man comprehend great matters that breaketh 
Ms mind too much to small observations ? 
Not to use ceremonies at all, is to teach oth* 
crs not to use them again ; and so diminisheth 
respect to himself; especially they are not to 
be omitted to strangers and formal natures: 
but the dv/elling upon them, and exalting them 
above the moon, is not only tedious, but doth 
diminish the faith and credit of him tlaat 
f?p€aks : and, certainly, there is a kind of coa- 
vepng of effectual and imprinting passages 
amongst compliments, which is of singular 
use, if a man can hit upon it. Amongst a 
iman's peers, a man:shall be sTjre of familiarity" ; 
and -tJierefc^e it is goad a little to keep state : 
■ p:sa(^ngst 3 tnan's inferiorp, one shdf &e fuxe 



OF PRAISE. 19S 

of reverence ; and therefore it is good a little 
to be familiar. He that is too much in any- 
thing, so that he giveth another occasion of 
society, maketh himself cheap. To apply 
45ne'sself to others is good ; so it be with demon- 
stration, that a man doth it upon regard, and 
not upon facility. It is a good precept, gener- 
ally, in seconding another, yet to add some- 
what of one's own : as if you will grant his 
opinion, let it be with some distinction ; if 
you will follow his motion, let it be with con- 
dition ; if you allow his counsel, let it be with 
alleging farther reason. Men had need be- 
ware how they be too perfect in compliments ; 
for, be they never so suiiicient otherwise, their 
enviers will be sure to give them that attribute, 
to the disadvantage of their greater virtues. 
It is loss also in business to be too full of re- 
spects, or to be too curious in observing times 
and opportunities. Solomon saith, "He that 
considereth the wind shall not sow, and he 
that looketh to the clouds shall not reap." A 
wise man will make more opportunities than 
he finds. Men's behaviour should be like 
their apparel, not too strait or point device, but 
free for exercise or motion. 



OF PRAISE. 



Praise is the reflection of virtue, but it is 
as the glass, or body which giveth the reflec- 
17 



i9'4 OF PRAISE. 

tion ; if it be from the common people, it is* 
commonly false and nought ; and ravher fol- 
io weth vain persons than virtuous : for the 
common people understand not many exeeh 
lent virtues : the lowest virtues draw praise 
from them, the middle virtues work in them 
astonishment or admiration ; but of the high- 
est virtues they have no sense or perceiving^ 
at all ; but shows and " species virtutibus 
similes" serve best with them. Certainly, 
fame is like a river, that beareth up things 
light and swollen, and drowns things weighty 
and solid ; but if persons of quality and judg- 
ment concur, then it is, (as the scripture saith,) 
" Nomen bonum instar ungusnti fragrantis ;" 
it fiileth all round about, and will not easily 
away ; for the odours of ointments are more 
durable than those of flowers. There be so 
many false points of praise, that a man may 
justly hold it in suspect. Some praises pro- 
ceed merely of iiattery; and if he be an ordi^ 
nary flatterer, he will have certain common 
attributes, which may serve every man ; if he 
be a cunning flatterer, he will follow the arch 
flatterer, which is a man's self, and" wherein a 
man thinketh best of himself, therein the flat^ 
terer will uphold him most ; but if he be an 
impudent flatterer, look wherein a man is con-t 
scious to himself that he is most defective, and 
is most out of countenance in himself, that 
will the flatterer entitle him to perforce, 
■^^ Spreta conscicntia.'^ Some praises come of 



OF PRAISE. 195 

good wishes and respects, which is a form due 
in civility to kings and great persons, " lan- 
dando prcecipere ;" when, by teUing men what 
they are, they represent to them what they 
should be : some men are praised maliciously 
to their hurt, thereby to stir envy and jealousy 
towards them; ''pessimiun geiius irJmicorum 
laudantium ;" insomuch as it was a proverb 
amongst the Grecians, that '•" he that v,"as 
praised to his hurt should have a push rise 
upon his nose ;" as we say, that a blister will 
rise upO?i one's t<^ngue that tells a lie ; cer- 
tainly, moderate praise, used with opportunity, 
and not vulgar, is that which doth the good. 
Solomon saith, " He that praiseth his friend 
aloud, rising early, it shall be to him no better 
than a curse." Too much magnifying of 
man or matter dotii irriiate contradiction, and 
procure envy and scorn. To praise a man's 
self cannot be decent, except it be in rare 
cases ; but to praise a man's office or profes- 
sion, he may do it with good grace, and with 
a kind of magnanimity. The cardinals of 
Rome, which are theologues, and friars, and 
schoolmen, have a phrase of notable contempt 
and scorn towards civil business ; for they call 
all temporal business of wars, embassages, 
judicature, and other employments, sherrerie, 
which is under sherifferies, as if they were but 
matters for under sheriiFs and catchpoies ; 
though many times those under sheriiferies do 
more good than their high speculations, St 



196 OP VAINGLORY. 

Paul, when he boasts of himself, doth oft j 
interlace, " I speak like a fool ;" but, speaking I 
of his calling, he saith, " magnilicabo aposto- 1 
latum meuni," 



OF VAINGLORY. ] 

It was prettily devised of iEsop, the fly sat : 
upon the axletree of the chariot wheel, and . 
said, " What a dust do I raise !" So are there 
some vain persons, that, whatsoever goeth 
alone, or moveth upon greater means, if they 
have never so little hand in it, they think it is 
they that carry it. They that are glorious 
must needs be factious ; for all bravery stands 
upon comparisons. Tliey must needs be vio- 
lent to make good their own vaunts ; neither 
can they be secret, and therefore not effectual ; 
but, according to the French proverb, " beau- 
coup de bruit, pen de fruit ;" — " much bruit, 
little fruit." Yet, certainly, there is use of this 
quality in civil affairs : where there is an 
opinion and fame to be created, either of virtue 
or greatness, these men are good trumpeters. 
Again, as Titus i^ivius noteth, in the case of 
Antiochus and the ^tolians, there are some- 
times great elfects of cross lies : as if a man 
that negotiates between two princes, to draw 
them to join in a v/ar against a third, doth extol 
the forces of either of them above measure, 
the one to the other : and sometimes he that 
Ideals between man and man raiseth his own 



V>¥ VAlXULOIiV. 197 

^edit with both, by pretending greater iiiter-^ 
est than he hath in either : and in these, and 
the like kinds, it often falls out, that somewhat 
is produced of nothing ; for lies are sufficient 
to breed opinion, and opinion brings on sub- 
stance. In military commanders and soldiers, 
\'ainglory is an essential point; for as iron 
sharpens iron, so by glory one courage sharp- 
eneth another. In cases of great enterprise 
upon charge and adventure, a composition of 
glorious natures dotli put life into business ; 
and those that are of solid and sober natures 
have more of the ballast than of the sail. In 
fame of leafning the flight will be slow with- 
out some feathers of ostentation : " Qui de 
contemnenda gloria libros scribunt, nomen 
suum inscribmit." Socrates, Aristotle, Galen, 
were men full of ostentation : certainly, vainr 
glory helpeth to perpetuate a man's memory; 
and virtue was never so beholden to human 
nature, as it received its due at the second 
hand. Neither had the fame of Cicero, Sen- 
eca, Plinius Secundus, borne her age so well, 
if it had not been joined with some vanity in 
themselves; like unto varnish, that makes 
ceilings not only shine but last. But all this 
while, when I speak of vainglory, I mean not 
of that property that Tacitus doth attribute to 
Mucianus, " Omnium, quse dixerat feceratque, 
arte quadam ostentator :" for that proceeds 
not of vanity, but of natural magnanimity and 
discretion ; and, in some persons, is not only 
comely, but gracious : for excusations, ces> 
17* 



198 OF HONOUR AN15 RlirL'TATIO:^. 

sions, modesty itself, well governed, are but 
arts of ostentation ; and amongst those arts 
there is none better than that which Plinius 
Secundus speaketh of, which is to be liberal 
of praise and commendation to others, in that 
wherein a man's self hath any perfection : for, 
saith Pliny, very wittingly, " In commending 
another you do yourself right;" for he that 
you commend is either superior to yoa in that 
you commend, or inferior; if he be inferior, 
if he be to be commended, you much more ; 
if he be superior, if he be not to be com- 
mended, you much less. Vainglorious men 
are the scorn of wise men, the admiration of 
fools, the idols of parasites, and the slaves of 
their ow^n vaunts. 



OF HONOUR AND REPUTATION. 

The wdnning of honour is but the reveal- 
ing of a man's virtue and worth without disad- 
vantage ; for some in their actions do woo 
and affect honour and reputation ; which sort 
of men are commonly much talked of, but 
inwardly little admired : and some, contrari- 
wise, darken their virtue in the show of it; 
so as they be undervalued in opinion. If a 
man perform that which hath not been at- 
tempted before, or attempted and given over, 
or hath been achieved, but not with so good 
circumstance, he shall purchase more honour 
JhaB by affecting a matter of greater difficulty 



OF HONOUR a:\d reputation. 190 

or virtue wherein he h but a follower. If a 
man so temper his actions, as in some one of 
them he doth content every faction or combi- 
nation of people, the music v/ill be the fuller. 
A man is an ill husband of his honour that 
entereth into any acdoii, the failing v/herein 
may disgrace him more than the carrying of it 
through can honour him. Konour that is 
gained and broken upon another hath the 
quickest reflection, like diamonds cut with 
fascets ; and, therefore, let a man contend to 
excel any competitors of his honour, in out- 
shooting them, if he can, in their own bow. 
Discreet follovvers and servants help much to 
reputation : " Omnis fania a domesticis ema- 
nat." Envy, which is the canker of honour, 
is best distinguislied by declaring a man's self 
in his ends, rather to seek merit than fame ; 
and by attributing a man's successes rather to 
divine Providence and felicity than to his own 
virtue or policy. The true marshalling of the 
degrees of sovereign honour are these : in the 
first place are " eonditores imperiorum," foun- 
ders of states and commonAveaiths ; such as 
w^ere Romulus, Cyrus, Ca?sar, Ottoman, Is- 
mael : in the second place are " legislatores," 
lawgivers ; wdiich are also called second foun- 
ders, or "perpetui principes," because they 
govern by their ordinances after they are 
gone; such were Lycurgus, Solon, Justinian, 
Edgar, Alphonsiis of Castile, the wise, that 
made the " Siete patridas :" in the third 
pla.ce are " liberatores," or '• salvalnres ;'' such. 



too OF IIOA'OUR AND REPUTATION. 

as compound the long miseries of civil wars^ 
or deliver their countries from servitude of 
strangers or tyrants ; as Augustus Ccesar, Ves- 
pasianus, Aurelianus, Theodoricus, king Hen- 
ry the Seventh of England, king Henry ih^l 
Fourth of France : in the fourth place a^l 
" propagatores," or ^' propugnatores imperii," 
such as in honourable wars enlarge their ter- 
ritories, or make noble defence against inva- 
ders : and, in the last place, are "patres 
patrise," Avhich reign justly, and make the 
times good wherein they live ; both which 
last kinds need no examples, they are in such 
number. Degrees of honour in subjects are, 
first, " participes curarum," those upon whom 
princes do discharge the greatest weight of 
their affairs ; their right hands, as we may call 
them : the next are " duces belli," great lead- 
ers; such as are princes' lieutenants, and do 
them notable services in the wars : the third 
are "gratiosi," favourites ; such as exceed not 
this scantling, to be solace to the sovereign, 
and harmless to the people : and the fourth 
*'negotiis pares;" such as have great places 
under princes, and execute their places with 
sufficiency. There is an honour, likewise, 
which may be ranked amongst the greatest, 
which happeneth rarely; that is, of such as 
sacrifice themselves to death or danger for the 
good of their country ; as was M. Regulusj 
and the two Decii. 



OF JUDiCATirat:. 201 



OF JUDICATURE. 



-Judges ouglit to remember that their oiiice 
is "jus dicere," and not "jus dare;" to inter- 
pret law, and not to make lav/, or give law; 
else v^ill it be like the authority claimed by 
the church of Rome, which, under pretext of 
exposition of scripture, doth not stick to add 
and alter; and to pronounce that which they 
do not find, and by show of antiquity to intro- 
duce novelty. oTiuiges ought to be more learn- 
ed than witty, more reverend than plausible, 
and more advised than confident. Above all 
things, integrity is their portion and proper 
virtue. " Cursed (saith the law) is he that 
removeth the landmark." The mislayer of a 
mere stone is to blame ; but it is the unjust 
judge that is the capital remover of landmarks, 
when he defineth amiss of land and property. 
One foul sentence doth more hurt than many 
foul examples; for these do but corrupt the 
stream, the other corrupteth the fountain : so 
Kaith Solomon, " Fons turbaliis, et vena cor- 
rupta est Justus cadens in causa sua coram 
adversp.rio." The oiHce of judges may have 
reference unto the parties that sue, unto the 
advocates that plead, mlto the clerks and min- 
isters of justice underneath them, and to the 
sovereign or state above them. 

First, for the causes or parties that sue. 
There be (saith the scripture) "that turn 
judgment into worntwood ;" and surely there 



2'02 OF JUDICATCIIE. 

be also that turn it into vinegar ; for injustice 
maketli it bitter, and delays make it sour. 
The principal duty of a judge is to suppress 
force and fraud ; whereof force is the more 
pernicious when it is open, and fraud when it 
is close and disguised. Add thereto coiiten- 
tious Suits, which ought to be spewed out, as 
the suifeit of courts. A judge ought to pre- 
pare his way to a just sentence, as God useth 
to prepare his ^vay, by raising valleys and 
taking down hills : so when there appeareth 
on either side a high hand, violent prosecu- 
tion, cunning advantages taken, combination, 
power, great counsel, then is the virtue of a 
judge seea to make inequality equal ; that he 
may plant his judgment as upon an even 
ground. " Qui fortiter emungit, elicit sangui- 
nem ;" and where the wine-press is hard 
wrought. It yields a harsh wine, that tastes of 
the grape-stone. Judges must beware of hard 
constructions, and strained inferences ; for 
there is no worse torture than the torture of 
laws : especially in case of laws penal, they 
oughttohave care, that that, wdiich was meant 
for terror, be not turned into rigour : and that 
they bring not upon the people that shower 
whereof the scripture speaketh, " Pluet super 
eos laqueos ;^' for penal laws pressed are a 
shoTver of snares upon the people : therefore, 
let penal laws, if they have been sleepers of 
long, or if they be grown unfit for the present 
time, be by wise judges confined in the exe- 
scution : " Judicis officium est, ut res, ita tem-r 



OF JUDICATURE. 203 

pora rerum," &c. In causes of life and death, 
judges ought (as far as the law permitteth) in 
justice to remember mercy, and to cast a 
severe eye upon the example, but at merciful 
eye upon the person. 

Secondly, for the advocates and counsel that 
plead. Patience and gravity of hearing is an 
essential part of justice ; and an overspeaking 
judge is no well-tuned cymbal. It is no 
grace to a judge first to find that which he 
might have heard in due time from the bar ; 
or to show quickness of conceit in cutting off 
evidence or counsel too short, or to prevent 
information by questions, though pertinent. 
The parts of a judge in hearing are four : to 
direct the evidence ; to moderate length, repe- 
tition, or impertinency of speech ; to recapit- 
ulate, select, and collate the material points of 
that which hath been said, and to give the 
rule, or sentence. Whatsoever is above these' 
is too much, and proceedeth either of glory 
and willingness to speak, or of impatience to 
hear, or of shortness of memory, or of want of a 
staid and equal attention. It is a strange thing 
to see that the boldness of advocates should 
prevail with judges ; whereas they should im- 
itate God, in whose seat they sit ; who repress- 
eth the presumptuous, and giveth grace to 
the modest : but it is more strange, that judge* 
should have noted favourites, which camiot but 
cause multiplication of fees, and suspicion of 
by-ways. There is due from the judge to the 
jidvocate some cominendation and grachig, 



204 OF JUmCATURE. 

where causes are well handled and fair plead- 
ed, especially towards the side which obtain- 
eth not : for that upholds in the client the 
reputation of his counsel, and beats down in 
him the conceit of his cause. There is like- 
wise due to the public a civil reprehension of 
advocates, where there appeareth cunning 
counsel, gross neglect, slight information, in- 
discreet pressing, or an overbold defence ; and 
let not the counsel at the bar chop with the 
judge, nor wind himself into the handling of 
the cause anew after the j'ldge hath declared 
liis sentence ; but, on the other side, let not 
the judge meet the cause half way, nor give 
occasion to the party to say, his counsel or 
proofs were not heard. 

Thirdly, for that that concerns clerks and 
ministers. The place of justice is a hallowed 
place ; and therefore not only the bench, but 
the footpace and precincts, and purprise there- 
of, ought to be preserved without scandal and 
corruption ; for, certainly, grapes (as the scrip- 
ture saith) '^will not be gathered off thorns 
and thistles;" neither can Justice yield her 
fruit with sweetness amongst the briers and 
brambles of catching and pulling clerks and 
ministers. The attendance of courts is sub- 
ject to four bad instruments : first, certain per- 
sons that are sovvcrs of suits, which make the 
court swell and the country pine : the second 
sort is of those that engage courts in quarrels 
of jurisdiction, and are not truly " amici cu- 
Hi?/' but " parasiti curl;*^," m pofEng a court 



I OF JUIUCATURE. ^05 

up beyond her bounds for their own scraps and 
advantages : the third sort is of those that may 
be accounted the left hands of courts ; per- 
sons that are full of nimble and sinister tricks 
and shifts, whereby they pervert the plain and 
direct courses of courts, and bring justice into 
oblique lines and labyrinths : and the fourth 
is the poller and exacter of fees ; w^liich justi- 
fies the common resemblance of the courts of 
justice to the bush, whereunto, while the 
sheep flies for defence in weather, he is sure 
to lose part of the fleece. On the other side, 
an ancient clerk, skilful in precedents, wary 
in proceeding, and understanding in the busi- 
ness of the court, is an excellent figure of a 
court, and doth many times point the way to 
the judge himself. 

Fourthly, for that which may concern the 
sovereign and estate. Judges ought, above 
all, to remember the conclusion of the Roman 
twelve tables, " Saliis populi suprema lex ;" 
and to know tliat laws, except they be in 
order to that eiidj are but things captious, and 
oracles not vv^el! inspired : therefore it is a 
happy thing in a slate, Vvdien Icings and states 
do often consult vath judges ; and, again, when 
judges do often consult v.itli the king and 
state ; the one, where there is matter of law 
intervenient in business of state ; the other, 
when there is some eonsideratioD of state in- 
tervenient in matter of law ; far many times 
the tilings deduced to judgment may be 
" meum^' and ^'^ tuum;'' v.hen the reason and 
18 



206 OF ANGER. 

consequence thereof may trench to point of 
estate : I call matter of estate, not only the 
parts of sovereignty, but whatsoever intro- 
duceth any great alteration or dangerous pre- 
cedent; or concerneth manifestly any great 
portion o£ people : and let no man weakly ^ 
conceive, that just laws and true policy have ^! 
any antipathy ; for they are like the spirits 
and sinews, that one moves with the other. 
Let judges also remember, that Solomon's 
throne was supported by lions on both sides t 
let them be lions, but yet lions under the 
throne : being circumspect, that they do not 
check or oppose any points of sovereignty. 
Let not judges also be so ignorant of their own 
right, as to think there is not left them, as a 
principal part of their office, a wise use and 
application of laws ; for they may remember 
what the apostle saith of a greater law than 
theirs ; " Nos scimus quia lex bona est, modo 
qujg ea utatur legitime." 



OF ANGER. 



To seek to extinguish anger utterly is but t 
bravery of the Stoics. We have better ora- 
cles : " Be angry, but sin not : let not tlie sun 
go down upon your anger." Anger must be 
limited and confined, both in race and in time. 
We will first speak how the natural inclina- 
tion and habit, " to be angry," may be attemper* 
cd and calmed ; secondly, hoAV the particular 



or ANGER. 207 

motions of anger may be repressed, of, at 
least, refrained from doing mischief ; thirdly, 
how to raise anger, or appease anger in an- 
other. 

For the first, there is no other way but to 
meditate and ruminate well upon the effects of 
anger, how it troubles man's life : and the best 
time to do this, is to look back upon anger 
when the fit is thoroughly over. Seneca saith 
well, " that anger is like rain, which breaks 
itself upon that it falls." The scripture ex- 
horteth us " to possess our souls in patience ;" 
whosoever is out of patience, is out of posses- 
sion of bis soul. Men must not turn bees : 

** Animasque in vulnere ponunt." 

Auger is certainly a kind of baseness ; as it 
appears well in the weakness of those subjects 
in whom it reigns, children, women, old folks, 
sick folks. Only men must beware that they 
carry their anger rather with scorn than with 
fear; so that they may seem rather to be 
above the injury than below it ; which is a 
thing easily done, if a man will give law to 
himself in it. 

For the second point, the causes and mo- 
tives of anger are chiefly three : first, to be 
sensible of hurt ; for no man is angry that feels 
not himself hurt ; and, therefore, tender and 
delicate persons must needs be oft angry, they 
have so many things to trouble them, which 
more robust natures have little sense of : the 
Bext is, the apprehension and construction of 



208 OF ANGKK. 

the injury oiTered to be, in the circumstances 
thereof, full of contempt ; for contempt is that 
which putteth an edge upon anger, as much 
or more than the hurt itself; and, therefore, 
vrhen men are ingenious in picking out cir- 
cumstances of contempt, they do kindle their 
anger much : lastly, opinion of the touch of a 
man's reputation doth multiply and sharpen 
anger ; wherein the remedy is, that a man 
should have, as Gonsalvo was wont to say, 
" telam honoris crassiorem." But in all re- 
frainings of anger, it is the best remedy to win 
time, and to make a man's seh^ believe that the 
opportunity of his revenge is not yet come ; 
but that he foresees a time for it, and so to 
still himself in the mean time, and reserve it. 

To contain anger from mischief, though it 
take hold of a man, there be two things 
whereof you must have special caution : the 
one of extreme bitterness of words, especially 
if they be aculeate and proper ; for "commu- 
iiia maledicta" are nothing so much ; and 
again, that in anger a man reveal no secrets ; 
for that makes him not fit for society : the 
other, that you do not peremptorily break off 
in any business in a fit of anger ; but howso- 
ever you show bitterness, do not act any thing 
that is not revoca,ble. 

For raising and appeasing anger in another, 
it is done chiefly by choosing of times, when 
men are frowardest and v/orst disposed, to in- 
cense them; again, by gathering (as was 
ton died before) all that you can find out ta 



or VICISSITUDE OF THINGS. 209 

aggravate the contempt : and the two reme- 
dies are by the contraries : the former to take 
good times, when first to relate to a man an 
angry business, for the first impression is 
much ; and the other isj to sever, as much as 
may be, the cbnStfuction of the injury from the 
point of contempt ; imputing it to misunder- 
standing, fear, passion, or what you will. 



OF VICISSITUDE OF THINGS. 

Solomon saith, " there is no new thing upon 
the earth :" so that as Plato had an imagina- 
tion that all knowledge was but remembrance ; 
so Solomon giveth his sentence, " that all 
novelty is but oblivion ;" whereby you may 
see, that the river of Lethe runneth as well 
above ground as below. There is an abstruse 
astrologer that saith, if it were not for two 
things that are constant, (the one is, that the 
fixed stars ever stand at like distance one from 
another, and never come nearer together, nor 
go farther asunder ; the other, that the diurnal 
motion perpetually keepeth time,) no individ- 
ual would last one moment : certain it is, that 
matter is in a perpetual flux, and never at a 
stay. The gjreat winding sheets that bury all 
things in oblivion are two ; deluges and earth- 
quakes. As for confliagrations and great 
droughts, they do not merely dispeople, but 
destroy. Phaeton's car went but a day ; and 
the three years' drought, in the time of Elias, 
18^ 



210 OF VICISSITUDE OF THINGS. - 

was but particular, and left people alive. As 
for the great burnings by lightnings, which are 
often in the West Indies, they are but narrow ; 
but in the other two destructions, by deluge 
and earthquake, it is farther to be noted, 
that the remnant of people which happen 
to be reserved are commonly ignorant and 
mountainous people, that can give no account 
of the time past; so that the oblivion is all or.e 
as if none had been left. If you consider 
well of the people of the West Indies, it is 
very probable that they are a newer or a 
younger people than the people of the old 
world ; and it is much more likely that the 
destruction that hath heretofore been there, 
was not by earthquakes, (as the ^Egyptian 
priest told Solon, concerning the island of At- 
lantis, that it was swallowed by an earthquake,) 
but rather that it was desolated by a particular 
deluge: for earthquakes are seldom in those 
parts : but on the other side, they have such 
pouring rivers, as the rivers of Asia and Africa 
and Europe are but brooks to them. Their 
Andes, likewise, or mountains, are far higher 
than those with us ; whereby it seems, that 
the remnants of generations of men were in 
such a particular deluge saved. As for the 
observation that Machiavel hath, that the 
jealousy of sects doth much extinguish the 
memory of things ; traducing Gregory the 
Great, that he did what in him lay to extin- 
guish all heathen antiquities; I do not find 
that those zeals do any gTeat effects, nor last 



OF VICISSITUDE OF THINGS. 211 

long; as it appeared in the succession of 
Sabinian, who did revive the former anti- 
quities. 

The vicissitude, or mutations, in the supe- 
rior globe are no fit matter for this present 
argument. It may be Plato's great year, if 
the world should last so long, would have some 
eiTect^ not in renewing the state of like indi- 
viduals, (for that is the fume of those that 
conceive the celestial bodies have more accu- 
rate influences upon these things below than 
indeed they have,) but in gross. Comets, out 
of question, have likewise power and effect 
over the gross and mass of things : but thej 
are rather gazed upon, and waited upon in 
their journey, than wisely observed in their 
effects ; especially in their respective effects ; 
that is, what kind of comet for magnitude, 
colour, version of the beams, placing in the 
region of heaven, or lasting, produceth what 
kind of effects. 

There is a toy, which I have heard, and I 
would not have it given over, but waited upon 
a little. They say it is observed in the Low 
Countries, (I know not in what part,) that 
every five-and- thirty years the same kind and 
suit of years and weathers come about again ; 
as great frosts, great wet, great droughts, warm 
winters, summers with little heat, and the like ; 
and they call it the prime : it is a thing I do 
the rather mention, because, computing back- 
wards, I have found some concurrence. 



212 OP VICISSITUDE OF THINGS. 

But to leave these points of nature, and to 
come to men. The great vicissitude of things 
amongst men is the vicissitude of sects and 
religions ; for those orbs rule in men's minds 
most. The true religion is built upon the 
rock ; the rest are tossed upon the waves of 
time. To speak, therefore, of the causes of 
new sects, and to give some counsel Goncens* 
ing them, as far as the weakness of human 
judgment can give stay to so great revolutions. 

When the religion formerly received is rent 
by discords, and when the holiness of the pro- 
fessors of religion is decayed and full of scan- 
dal, and withal the times be stupid, ignorant, 
and barbarous, you may doubt the spring- 
ing up of a new sect : if then, also, there 
should arise any extravagant and strange spirit 
to make himself author thereof: all which 
points held when Mahomet published his law. 
If a new sect have not two properties, fear it 
not, for it will not spread : the one is the sup- 
planting, or the opposing of authority estab- 
lished ; for nothing is more popular than that; 
the other is the giving license to pleasures and 
a voluptuous life : for as for speculative here- 
sies, (such as were in ancient times the Ari- 
ans, and now the Arminians,) though they 
work mightily upon men's wits, yet they do 
not produce any great alteration in states; 
except it be by the help of civil occasions. 
There be three manner of plantations of new 
sects ; by the power of signs and miracles ; 



<>r vicissirrDE or things. 213 

by the eloquence and wisdom of speech and 
persuasion ; and by the sword. For martyr- 
doms, I reckon them amongst miracles, be- 
cause they seem to exceed the strength of 
human nature : and I may do the I.ke of 
superlative and admirable holiness of life. 
Surely there is no better way to stop the rising 
of new sects and schisms than to reform 
abuses; to compound the smaller differences; 
to proceed mildly, and not with sanguinary 
persecutions ; and rather to take off the prin- 
cipal authors, by winning and advancing them, 
then to enrage them by violence and bitter- 
ness. 

The changes and vicissitudes in wars are 
many, but chiefly in three things; in the 
seats or stages of the w^ar, in the weapons, and 
in the manner of the conduct. Wars, in an- 
cient time, seemed more to move from east 16 
west; for the Persians, Assyrians, Arabians, 
Tartars, (which were the invaders,) were all 
eastern people. It is true, the Gauls were 
western ; but we read but of two incursions 
of theirs ; the one to Galio-Gra^cia, the other 
to Rome : but east and west have no certain 
points of heaven ; and no more have the w^ars, 
either from the east or w^est, any certainty of 
observation : but north and south are fixed ; 
and it hath seldom or never been seen that the 
far southern people have invaded the north- 
ern, but contrariv/ise ; whereby it is manifest 
that the northern tract of the w^orld is in na- 
ture the more martial region : be it in respect 



214 or yicisaiifDE of TinZ'.^s. 

of the stars of that heinispherej or of the great 
continents that are upon the north ; whereas 
the south part, for aught that is known, is 
almost all sea; or (which is most apparent) 
of the cold of the northern parts, which is that 
^vhichj without aid of discipline, doth make the 
bodies hardest, and the courage warrnest. 

Upon the breaking and shivering of a great 
state and empire, you may be sure ta have 
w^ars ; for great empires, while they stand, do 
enervate and destroy the forces of the natives 
which they have subdued, resting upon their 
own protecting forces ; and then, when they 
fail also, all goes to ruin, and they become a 
prey ; so it w-as in the decay of the Roman 
empire, and likewise in the empire of Al- 
maigne, after Charles the Great, every bird 
taking a feather ; and were not unlike to be- 
fall to Spain if it should break. The great ac- 
cessions and unions of kingdoms do likewise 
stir up wars : for when a state grows to au 
overpower, it is like a great fi<>od that will be 
sure to ovsrliov/ ; as it hath been seen in the 
states of Rome, Turkey, Spain, and others. 
Look when the world hath fewest barbarous 
people, but such as commonly will not marry,, 
or generate, except they know means to live, 
(as it is almost every where at this day, ex- 
cept Tartary,) there is no danger of inunda- 
tions of people : but when there be great 
shoals of people which go on to populate, 
without foreseeing means of life and sustenta- 
tion, it is of necessity that once in an age or 



OF VICiSbliLUi: Oi THi.VGS. 215 

two they discharge a portion of their people 
upon other nations, which the ancient north- 
ern people were wont to do by lot ; casting 
lots what part should stay at home, and what 
should seek their fortunes. When a warlike 
state grows soft and eifeniinate, they may be 
sure of a war : for commonly such states are 
grown rich in the time of their degenerating; 
and so the prey inviteth, and their decay in 
valour encoarageth a war. 

As for the weapons, it hardly ialleih under 
rale and observation : yet vve see even they 
have returns and vicissitudes ; for eeitain it is, 
that ordnance was known in the e^ry of Oxy- 
draces, in India; and was uvi.i which the 
Macedonians called thuoder and lightning, 
and magic ; and It is, well known tliat the use 
of ordnance hath been in China ahove two 
thousand years. The conditions of weapons, 
and tlisir improvements are., iirr«, the fetching 
afar oif ; for that outruns the danger, as it is 
seen in ordnance and muskets : secondly, the 
strength of the pereussiou ; wherein lilcewise 
ordnance do exceed all arietations and ancient 
inventions : the third is^ tlit; conimodious use of 
them ; as that they may serve in ail weathers, 
that the carriage may be light and manageahlej 
und the like. 

For the GouduCt of the war : at the first, 
men rested estremely upon number ; they did 
•put the wars likewise upon main Ibrce and 
veloiir, pointing days for pitched fieldr-, and so 
vrvh}g )t ou?- iTpoD ?in <:i't;ii mat'^h : and they 



216 or FAME, 

were more ignorant in ranging and arraying 
their battles. After they grew to rest upon 
number, rather competent than vast, they 
grew to advantages of place, cunning diver- 
sions, and the like; and they grew more skil- 
ful in the ordering of their battles. 

In the youth of a state arms do flourish ; in 
the middle age of a state, learning ; and then 
both of them together for a time ; in the de- 
clining age of a state, mechanical arts and 
merchandise. Learning hath its infancy, vv^hen 
it is but beginning, and almost childish ; then 
its youth, v/hen it is luxuriant and juvenile ; 
then its strength of years, when it is solid and 
reduced ; and, lastly, its old age, when it 
waxeth dry and exhaust ; but it is not good 
to look too long upon these turning wheels of 
vicissitude, lest we become giddy : as for the 
philology of them, that is but a circle of tales, 
and therefore not fit for this writing. 



A FRAGMENT OF AN ESSAY OF FAME. 

The poets make Fame a monster: the\ 
describe her in. part finely and elegantly, auv 
in part gravely and sententiously : they say 
Look how many feathers she hath, so mac 
eyes she hath underneath, so many tongue; 
so many voices, she pricks up so many ears. 

This is a flourish ; there follow excelle: 
parables; as that she gathereth strength . 
going; thnt she goeth upon the ground, ar; 



OF FAME. 217 

yet hideth her head in the clouds ; that in the 
day time she sitteth in a v/atch tower, and 
flieth most by night ; that she mingleth things 
done with things not done; and that she is a 
terror to great cities : but that which passeth 
all the rest is, they do recount that the Earth, 
mother of the giants that made war against 
Jupiter, and were by him destroyed, thereupon 
in anger brought forth Fame ; for certain it is, 
that rebels, figured by the giants and seditious 
fames and libels, are but brothers and sisters, 
masculine and feminine : but now if a man 
can tame this monster, and bring her to feed 
at the hand, and govern her, and with her fly 
other ravening fowl and kill them, it is some- 
what worth : but w^e are infected with the 
style of the poets. To speak now in a sad 
and serious manner, there is not in all the 
politics a place less handled, and more worthy 
to be handled, than this of fam.e; we will 
therefore speak of these points : what are 
false fames; and what are true fames, and 
how they may be best discerned ; how fames 
may be sown and raised ; how they may be 
spread and multiplied ; and how they may 
be checked and laid dead ; and other things 
concerning the nature of fame. Fame is of 
that force, as there is scarcely any great action 
wherein it hath not a great part, especially in 
the war. Mucianus undid Vitellius by a fame 
that he scattered, that Vitellius had in purpose 
to move the legions of Syria into Germa- 
ny, and the legions of Germanv into Syria; 
19 



218 OF FAME. 

whereupon the legions of Syria were infinitely 
inflamed. Julius Caesar took Pompey unpro- 
vided, and laid asleep his industry and prepa- 
rations by a fame that he cunningly gave out, 
how Caesar's own soldiers loved him not ; and, 
being wearied with the wars, and laden with 
the spoils of Gaul, would forsake him as soon 
as he came into Italy. Livia settled all things 
for the succession of her son Tiberius, by 
continually giving out that her husband Au- 
gustus was upon recovery and amendment; 
and it is an usual thing with the bashaws to 
conceal the death of the Great Turk from the 
janizaries and men of war, to save the sacking 
of Constantinople, and other towns, as their 
manner is. Themistocles made Xerxes, king 
of Persia, post apace out of Graecia, by giving 
out that the Grecians had a purpose to break 
his bridge of ships, which he had made 
athwart the Hellespont. There be a thou- 
sand such like examples, and the more they 
are the less they need to be repeated, be- 
cause a man meeteth with them every 
where : wherefore, let all wise governors 
have as great a watch and care over fames, 
as they have of the actions and designs 
themselves. 

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